Goblin Slayer : Leave No Goblin Alive!
by 1102PM
Summary: The experienced silver ranked adventurer, Goblin Slayer, along with his party, Priestess, High Elf Archer, Lizard Priest, and Dwarf Shaman, encounter the survivor of a what once was a village. This man, however, carries gear and equipment never seen before by any of the group members. Who is he? And Where does he come from?
1. The Mute Man

**EDIT: I didn't realize they finally added a category for Goblin Slayer, so I changed it. If you're new to this story then that's why it suddenly appeared.**

The place smelled like absolute shit. A prone man pitifully moved forward into a cavern. He kept glancing over his shoulder as he did this. He found what he believed to be a suitable place to rest, a boulder, just big enough to hide behind in case any more of those...whatever they are, went away. The man took a better look at the cave he chose to take shelter in. He knew it was risky to go in there defenseless, but what more could he do? He sat there. Silent. Unmoving. The slightest noise would've given him away. He heard the pitter patters of those tiny monsters. They stopped. Shit. A tiny wet Slap echoed throughout the cave. The source? Right behind the boulder. The entrance.

The man heard some sort of very rough, garbled gibberish between what he assumed to be a couple of them. Their language is just as barbaric as their actions. That village...how often does that happen? Why were those people so secluded from the rest. Why were there no guards? Did they think if they were secluded that would keep them safe? Oh, the irony. The man was sure he was about to share the same fate with those people. He wouldn't die too defenseless though. With his right arm, he reached into one of his multiple pockets on his vest. A frag grenade. He'd take these bastards with him.

Just as he was about to pull the pin when the steps grew closer, he heard something quietly slice through the air behind him. The next second he heard whatever had been thrown somehow penetrate what he believed to be two of the monsters. The one currently unharmed let out a high pitched scream and started to furiously talk in its language obviously distressed about what just happened. The monster attempted to flee knowing it didn't stand a chance but was silenced by another unidentified weapon.

A body hit the floor. He carefully turned his head and body to take a look at what just happened. Two arrows, two decapitated heads, and another monster who, unlike his two comrades, had an arrow sticking out from its forehead. Someone or something had saved him. He wasn't complaining. This didn't mean his savior wasn't any friendlier either. He stayed behind the boulder begging whomever it was to just go away and leave him to his own devices.

 **"Forty-two."** Someone said. The voice sounded gruff and somewhat emotionless. Mechanical in a way. A man most likely. He heard someone walking slowly and gulp timidly at the scene before them. **"A trail of blood…"** A...woman? Girl? The man couldn't identify the second voice. **"Is it…"** The girl went quiet. They know I'm here. The man thought to himself. He was going to get caught either way so he might as well try to-

His train of thought was suddenly cut off when the boulder he was leaning on rolled backward. He caught himself with his good arm and looked up at the man in the dirty, rusted and beaten armor. His helmet obscured his entire head despite having rectangular holes to see through. Behind him a girl in what to him looked like a young priestess. **"He's hurt!"** She suddenly blurted and began advancing toward the man. The knight in rusty armor, however, moved his right arm up and blocked her path. **"Goblin Slayer, sir?"** The girl looked confused. Goblin Slayer...that's his name? Or at the least his status. The man known as Goblin Slayer spoke up. **"He's holding something."** The man looked down at his hands. He pulled the pin and tossed the frag grenade deeper into the cave. The clinking of the pin and grenade echoed throughout the cavern. Five of the same creatures emerged from the cave running in fear but the explosion overtook their screams of fear. Limbs and blood were sent splattering all over down further into the cave. The roof of the cave began to quake. Small and large portions of rocks began to fall near where the explosion occurred.

Both the girl and Goblin Slayer looked on in fascination to what just happened. After the explosion had subsided they both turned to look at the man. They got a better look at him and came to the realization that everything he currently wore looked nothing like they've ever seen before. A grey ballistic helmet with a mandible and visor that obscured his face, vest, large combat boots, heavily padded armor that covered the entire body, black gloves, and unknown items on the rest of his body. The only things they could identify were the dog tags and the ballistic knife.

 **"Slow down, Long-Ears! I can only move so fast through this damned swamp!"** Someone said. **"Allow me to help."** Another voice came through. This one bore a hissed tone about him. Almost snake or lizard-like. At this point, nothing would surprise the currently injured man. **"What was that just now?"** A young woman said as she came too close the entrance. She stopped walking toward the two she directed her question towards and stared at the man lying against the walls of the cavern. **"Oh my, a survivor."** A lizardman walked right through the entrance as well said this as soon as he saw the man. On his shoulder was a very short man. A midget? No, wait. A dwarf. The ears...same goes for the other woman. Elf of some kind. What is this? Some kind of fantasy land? The man was definitely going to have trouble getting adjusted to what he's currently seeing.

 **"I currently do not have anymore refreshes. I apologize."** The lizardman solemnly stated as fact. **"I still have one minor heal…"** The priestess spoke up, unsure if her magic would even help the man. Suddenly he shifted and began to crawl towards the group. **"What are you…?!"** The Elf was taken aback as the man powerfully lunged towards the entrance past her. That's when they noticed his half cut off legs. As he crawled away the wounds began to open and blood oozed out almost every time he made any movements. He was surprisingly strong and was almost at a normal walking pace. **"S-stop! You're going to bleed out!"** The priestess yelled.

The man made his way towards the would-be village now turned to almost ash. Goblin Slayer walked towards the man and helped him up. His feet dragged across the ground, still bleeding. The man pointed to his left. Goblin Slayer noticed the one house that didn't take as much damage. He noticed tiny objects on the floor. What were they? It looked like peanut shells, except metallic in a way. He had trouble discerning what they were. Where they from this man? Was he responsible for this? In any case, he still helped him reach the hut.

The man refused any more help from the rusty knight and shoved himself off of him and began to go to one of the rooms. Goblin Slayer noticed the few dead bodies that lay around the home. Two men, one woman. They died with weapons in their hands. Both men had their skulls crushed by some blunt object. The woman's tendons had been cut leaving her immobile. At this point, I'm sure you know what the goblins did to her. A fire burned inside of Goblin Slayer. Every time he saw something like this it only added to his hatred of goblins.

They died with weapons in their hands. Primitive weapons. Same as the goblins. They didn't stand a chance. Especially against high numbers. Goblin Slayer heard a chest open followed by some rustling and clinking of objects. He walked towards the room the man had dragged himself towards. He noticed an unfamiliar object in his hand. A needle. The man pierced his throat with the object and pushed the top of it to force the strange blue substance into his body. He dropped the needle and lay against the chest he had retrieved his items from.

 **"The wounds on these goblins are nothing like I've ever seen before."** The lizardman crouched and examined one of the goblins riddled with holes, his tail swinging in great interest, speculating what could possibly have done this to them. **"I'm sure that man was the one who did this."** The dwarf chimed in inspecting a different body. A shaman. Half of his head was missing his brains and blood splattered against one of the destroyed homes. They noticed around nine champions among the dead. Chunks of their stomachs were blown away by some unknown weapon. **"I don't like this."** The Elf said stepping over bodies every time she encountered one. "This is not the adventure that I wanted!" The dwarf and lizardman stopped inspecting the dead bodies and started making their way towards Goblin Slayer.

As they entered the house they found the previously injured man now healed. The blood stains were still there but overall he looked liked nothing had happened to him. He stood there looking and inspecting his weapons and gear. Next, to him, Goblin Slayer helped by handing him his weapons and strange small rectangular shaped boxes that contained some sort of metal. **"Hey!"** The elf loudly said. Both men turned to face her. Goblin Slayer asked: **"Is there a problem?"**

The elf let out a small growling noise and with a tone of annoyance said: **"Of course! Who are you?"** The elf directed her question to the man in the padded and broken armor. He stopped what he was doing and turned around to look at the group of adventurers, but didn't say anything. Instead, he walked past Goblin Slayer and headed towards one of the other rooms where the dead woman was. He shuffled through drawers searching for something. **"Hey! Stop ignoring me!"** She yelled. The man found a blank white scroll along with a feather but no ink. He looked around the room and spotted a knocked over inkwell. He then turned his attention to the dead woman on the bed. He lay the items next to her and pulled out his ballistic knife. In one sharp movement, he slit her wrist. All the members except Goblin Slayer were taken aback by this sudden action. They had the strange compulsion to stop whatever he was doing. The man jabbed the end of the feather with the woman's blood and began to write on the blank scroll. After thirty seconds he looked over whatever he wrote and showed them the scroll. It read:

 _I cannot talk._

The man then pointed to his throat and placed his index finger in the middle of his throat and revealed the strangely precise straight line going upwards and downwards. **"It seems he is unable to communicate through regular means."** The lizard said. The man walked past everyone else and motioned with his hand to follow him. He waited for them to come outside and look at him once they did he crouched and pointed to a goblin on the floor he then opened his hand and a made a crushing motion. Then he pointed back to the cave he was found in. **"Are there more goblins that way?"** Goblin Slayer questioned. The man nodded in response. **"Then we shall proceed."** Lizard Priest said.

Goblin Slayer confidently began to walk back to the cave, short sword, and shield at hand. The rest of the group followed suit already knowing he wouldn't let any goblin go. The priestess looked back and saw the man had not moved from his position. **"Are you not going to help us?"**

Everyone else heard what she said and looked back at the man as well. He shook his head no. **"The least you could do is help us finish them off."** The High Elf said. **"He's made up his mind, lass. Don't force him."** The Dwarf said. **"Besides… we already have a pro on our side."** The Dwarf said turning his head and looking at Goblin Slayer. Who had resumed walking toward the man's previous shelter.

Goblin Slayer entered the cave once again. He looked down at the goblins and noticed the dagger on his hip. He crouched and removed it from the corpse. He then used said dagger to penetrate the dead goblin's stomach. He looked at him and noticed the squeamish Priestess looking disgusted as she always did whenever he did this. After everyone had reluctantly masked their scent. They proceeded down the cave. The only option was to take the path down to the right since the other was previously sectioned off thanks to the explosion. Goblin Slayer reached for his unlit torch and using a flint and steel set the top of it on fire. His stride emanated a strong aura of determination and violence as he always did when facing goblins.

But something was off...Goblin Slayer stopped in his tracks. The group noticed his sudden lack of confidence. **"Goblin Slayer, sir?"** The priestess looked confused as did the rest of the group. A loud pop suddenly rang out further down toward the cave. A flash of light accompanied the sound along with a projectile that came flying towards them. It just barely missed the group as it ricocheted along the walls of the cavern. That, however, was not the end of it. The attack was quickly followed by more shots and the war cry of goblins further down the cave. Lizard Priest let out a hiss of pain and clutched his leg where he had been hit. Priestess reacted quickly and began to conjure a shield. **"O EARTH MOTHER, ABOUNDING IN MERCY BY THE POWER OF THE LAND, GRANT SAFETY TO WE WHO ARE WEAK!"**

 **"PROTECTION!"**

Priestess' shield had blocked many more bullets that would've surely heavily injured the group if not for here. Goblin Slayer threw his torch down towards the cave revealing the location of the goblins shooting at them. The High Elf raised her bow and the Dwarf began to use his slingshot against the evil creatures. They both let loose a few arrows and rocks towards them. They managed to kill or injure five or six goblins. The goblins backed off further down towards the cave. They, however, knew they had the upper hand, and because of this, they wouldn't flee from this fight. The group somewhat relaxed but still kept up their guard.

 **"Are you injured?"** Goblin Slayer asked Lizard Priest. **"This wound is tolerable at the moment."** He answered. **"Beard-Cutter. What was that form of magic? Is that some sort of rare tactic goblins use?"** The Dwarf asked. **"No. They learned it from** _ **him**_ **."** He responded. Almost just as soon as he had finished his sentence they heard a footstep behind them. It was the silent man. He had the same paper in his left hand and a fresh inkwell strapped to his hip. He also carried a combat backpack that had a sniper and shotgun strapped to its sides. He walked towards the group and showed them the same scroll with new writing. It said:

 _I've come for what's mine._

 **"Those weapons of yours. How many of them do they have?"** Goblin Slayer asked. The man unrolled the piece of paper and pressed it against the cave's wall and began to scribble something down on paper. He then showed it to the group.

 _I count nine missing from my inventory._

As the adventurers all looked at each other, the man scrawled onto the scroll and presented it to the group once more.

 _I'll handle this. You don't stand a chance against these ranged weapons._

And with that, the man took off his backpack and pulled out some sort of gear the group was unable to identify. The man pressed on something near his visor and a very dim light surrounded it. The light, however, went away and it looked as if nothing had happened. The man reached for his pistol looked down the sight and slowly began to make his way down towards path. The adventurers stayed put and waited. It was completely silent except for the occasional inhale and exhales of the party members. A loud pop erupted from the tunnel with a flash of light. Another. Then another. Then again. Again. Again. Again….

Suddenly, bursts of light and sounds of shots being fired emanated from the tunnel. Goblins from within shouted in panic, the tiny pitter patters of their footsteps and bodies hitting the floor were not stopping. The sound of two beings struggling came from within. It ended with a goblin screaming with gargling soon after. Goblin Slayer peered down the tunnel and watched as the man came back with blood all over his armor. He held up the paper once and on it is a line of text that said:

 _The monsters now sleep with the villagers._


	2. Silent Guest

The adventurers guild was busy as usual. Adventurers of all kinds came here almost every day to accept new quests with compensation for their efforts of course. If you asked an honest person they'd probably say they were more like mercs instead of heroes. Those who were regarded very highly are the platinum and gold ranked adventurers. Those who were higher up would be called upon whenever the world needed them. Guild Girl was at work, as usual, handing out quests to adventurers who came looking for them. It had been about one day after she handed Goblin Slayer his quest. A villager had come by stating his concern for a possible large goblin nest in a cave not too far away from the village. Since nothing else had been available.

The sound of a bell ringing and a door quietly squealing caught the attention of Guild Girl. She looked up from her paper and gleefully exclaimed: **"You're back!"** with a smile on her face. **"What happened to the village?"** She asked. **"It was too late."** The cheap looking armored knight responded. The receptionist quickly switched from gleeful to a more melancholy one. **"And the goblins?"**

" **Disposed of."** Goblin Slayer said with the smallest hint of joy in his voice that only Guild Girl detected. **"Let me get your reward."** She got up from her chair and began to fetch the coins the villager had dropped by. **"No. I didn't do anything."** Guild Girl stopped moving and turned to look at Goblin Slayer with a confused look on her face. The rest of his party came entering the guild with the mute man following closely right behind them. He stuck out like a sore thumb. Most people in the guild only glance in the direction of the door when someone walks into the guild and go on about their day. They did a double take when they noticed the strangely armored man near the party. The adventurers all looked at one another and pretended to not be talking about them, others just stared.

" **...And you are?"** Guild Girl directed her question to the man in question. He stood there not saying a word. The air between everyone became awkward almost instantly. **"The lad here seems unable to speak."** Dwarf Shaman said explaining to her why he wasn't saying anything. **"Sorry, but...I don't think I can give the reward to a non-adventurer."** She said in an apologetic way. The man reached towards his hip pulling out the scroll of paper and on the back scribbling something down. He then showed it to the group.

 ** _I don't want your money. Instead, I need questions answered._**

" **Questions? What do you mean?"** Priestess placed her hand near her chin trying to understand him. The man looked at Guild Girl and where she sat. He walked towards her and pointed to the bundle of pens in a cylinder container and then what looked like a notebook. He then pointed to himself indicating that he wanted the items.

" **Oh! Um...sure, we've got plenty of this stuff."** She said and handed him three pens and one of the guilds notebooks. After receiving the items he made a gesture with hands showing his gratitude towards the woman. **"Have you considered becoming an adventurer?"** Lizard Priest inquired. After seeing him take on all those goblins he thought he would be a perfect candidate. The man looked up at the Lizard and then towards the other adventurers who at this point seemed to lose interest in him. He opened his notebook and opened to the first page. With his new utensil, he began to more quickly write down what he wanted to communicate. His writing came out a lot neater as well.

 _ **Yes. How do I officially become one?**_

" **It's quite simple actually."** Guild Girl scooted her chair back and reached into one of the drawers and pulled out a stack of papers with the terms and conditions that every guild used when registering new members. She handed him the papers and enthusiastically said: **"Please fill this out."** The man grabbed his pen and at the front desk signed at the bottom without looking over it.

" **There are rules and guidelines you** _ **have**_ **to know about. Otherwise, there will be serious consequences!"** She said scolding him after she noticed him skim through the paper. The man didn't write anything down not having any response or just didn't care about she said. He slightly turned his head to the left.

" **You're also going to need this."** She handed him his porcelain tag. **"Happy hunting!"** The man looked at the porcelain tag and inspected it. It was simple and plain with the words _Adventurers Guild_ engraved on the back. **"I'll explain everything he needs to know. Follow me."** Goblin Slayer walked away from the group and began to walk over to the board where all the quests were. The mute man immediately went after him.

" **Huh?"** Guild Girl had looked over everything he filled out and noticed that in the small box to the top left for his name just had numbers written down. **"Is something wrong?"** High Elf Archer asked looking at her. **"It's just numbers and a letter."** She responded pointing at the box with her index finger. She showed them the form he filled out and kept her right-hand index finger on the box she was talking about. **"One, one, zero, seven dashes S."** The dwarf read aloud to no one in particular. **"Does it mean anything?"** The high elf crossed her arms with her hand under her chin.

" **Understand?"** The cheap armored knight turned to look at the man who nodded in response. **"Good."** He walked away from the man leaving him to handle the rest by himself. The man looked at the board inspecting every sheet of paper. He placed his hand on some of them that somewhat made him curious. **"Are you Goblin Slayer's new member?"** A man spoke up from behind the silent man. He turned around and came face to face with Spearman. He shook his head no. The mute man was about to write something down but was stopped by Spearman who raised his left arm and opened his palm indicating to stop. **"I'm offering you a chance to join me and my partner over there."** He used his thumb to point towards his companion who winked at the man. **"I don't usually help out beginners, this could be a good chance to learn a thing or two."** He added. The man began to write something down.

 _ **I don't need assistance.**_

" **Suit yourself. You better not come back crying for help one day."** And with that, Spearman did a one-eighty and walked towards Witch. Who still kept her sultry yet friendly smile.

" **Did he refuse...help?"** Witch asked as she blew out smoke from her pipe. Spearman nodded to her question. **"We should...get going."** Witch placed her hand on Spearman's shoulder as she walked past him indicating to follow, which he did.

" **You're just going to leave him there?!"** High Elf Archer heatedly yelled at Goblin Slayer. **"Is that wrong?" "Yes! Look!"** She showed him the form that the silent man had filled out and pointed to the form. **"He filled it out."** He said stating the obvious. **"On the top left Beard-Cutter."** Dwarf Shaman pointed out to him. **"Hmm…"** Everyone looked at him waiting for some sort of reaction from him. **"I see nothing wrong."** They all let out a sigh of frustration while Guild Girl giggled at this.

" **His armaments are nothing like I've seen before. Otherworldly in fact."** Lizard Priest gave his opinion on the situation. **"He's got 'weird' written all over him."** The elf added. **"So what do we do?"** Priestess asked. Everyone stayed silent for a moment unsure. **"We've got other things to worry about. Like Goblins."** He never changed. Even when faced with an otherworldly being his fixation on goblins never wavered. Speaking of which…

" **Are there any more goblin quests?"** He directed his question towards Guild Girl who shook her head and said: **"Sorry, that was the last one."**

" **Hey, quiet guy! Come meet us upstairs."** The elf specified where to go by pointing to the first door when going up the stairs. He nodded in response as he clutched one of the quests and took it with him. The party all headed upstairs. They entered the same room where they all met each other. Nothing had been changed. It was just as clean and tidy as ever. The silent man sat down opposite of everyone else knowing full well they had questions for him.

Who was going to start? The room was eerily quiet for a few seconds before the dwarf spoke up. **"Who exactly are you?"** The man with a pen in hand wrote down an answer in mere seconds.

 _ **1107 - S.**_

" **Same answer…"** The shaman mumbled to himself. **"Okay then, where are you from?"**

 _ **I don't know.**_

"How old are you?" Lizard Priest asked the question this time.

 _ **I don't know.**_

" **How can you not know?"** The elf's face was totally flabbergasted at the responses he was giving them.

" **Who gave you your name?"** Priestess asked with an intrigued look on her face.

 _ **A machine. Gave names to others too.**_

" **How did you get here?"** Lizard Priest added to his list of questions.

 _ **Different machine, 'a test'.**_

" **Test?"** Goblin Slayer said aloud. The man nodded. He jotted something else down.

 **Teleportation test. To take us to the shores of New America. It didn't work.**

" **What's America?"** High Elf Archer mumbled to herself, **"You came with others?"** Dwarf Shaman questioned him **.** The man nodded. **"Where are they now?"**

 _ **In the ground. Deceased. I buried them.**_

" **Where they your...friends?"** Priestess asked. The man looked at her and wistfully nodded.

 _ **Is this interrogation over?**_

The group all shot glances at each other and through a form of silent agreement stopped asking him questions. The man began to write something down on his paper and showed them what he wrote.

 _ **I could use a home, somewhere to live. Where can I find, buy, or earn one?**_

" **Some nearby villages will let you stay as long as you pay the appropriate amount. Helping them with tasks and such will allow you to make it permanent."** Dwarf Shaman said.

" **Orcbolg, don't you live near here?"** High Elf Archer looked at him trying to confirm whether this was true or not. **"That's correct."**

" **Perfect! How about you let uh...what do we call you?"** High Elf Archer looked at the silent man. The man shrugged suggesting he didn't really care.

" **How about 'Mute' then?"** Lizard Priest somewhat joyfully said as he clasped his hands together in a strange way, happy they had come up with something for their newfound comrade. **"Sure. Anyway, Like I was saying, why don't you let Mute here stay with you for awhile until he finds somewhere to call home."** Orcbolg looked down at the ground deep in thought, after about 10 seconds he rose his head back up and said: **"It's possible, but you're going to need approval from the uncle."**

" **We should go now, it's getting dark outside."** He added as he got up from the couch and began to make his way towards the door. The assassin did the same and followed him back downstairs. **"Hey, new guy!"** Guild Girl shouted. Both adventurers looked at here and made their way towards her. **"We've made an exception for you. Here."** The girl at the front desk happily handed the assassin the reward from before. Mute bowed in response after receiving the bag of gold coins and along with Goblin Slayer made his way toward the door. **"Have a nice day!"** She said waving goodbye to the adventurers.

" _ **Oh great, another one."**_ The uncle of Cow Girl thought to himself as he watched Goblin Slayer along with a stranger come up walking towards him. **"Who's this?"** He asked as both men stopped in front of him. Cow Girl watched from the house's window as her uncle confronted them both. **"This is...Mute."** Goblin Slayer informed him almost forgetting his name. The uncle glanced at Mute then back to the cheap armored knight.

" **He plans to stay here for a couple of days."** The uncle sighed at Goblin Slayer's words and then looked at Mute who raised his right arm, the bag of gold coins on his hand, offering it to the uncle. He reluctantly accepted the pouch and stepped aside letting them into his home.

" **You can sleep in my room or with the animals."** Goblin Slayer told him and went about his usual business. **"So...can you really not talk?"** A voice said from behind Mute. He shook his head and exposed his neck to her showing the scar. **"I bet you're both awfully hungry. Don't worry. I'm making something right now."** Mute was about to write something down but stopped as she went further down into the house.

He walked up to Goblin Slayer and showed him what he wrote down.

 _ **Is there anything I can help with?**_

The, otherwise occupied, knight stared at him for a couple of seconds and said: **"Scout the area for any sign of goblins."** He nodded his head and started to go outside and do exactly what Goblin Slayer said. The sun was going down. That's the first thing he noticed as soon as he stepped outside. Then the moon. It seemed further away than he remembered it to be. A current of air blew right past him, the grass made a sound in response. It felt nice. And yet…

He ceased any thoughts going through his head and commenced the search for any nearby goblins. He was very meticulous during his search, going so far as to lift rocks and boulders out the way. Stooped over he inspected grass that looked out of place. Meaning that he was able to identify which sections of the area where stepped despite lack of footprints.

When the moon's full reflection of sunlight became noticeable, he concluded that nothing too out of the ordinary took place. But, he did find _this_. A bracelet. Gold. Not made out of it, but coated in it. It was too light for it to be genuine. **"Soup's ready!"** The woman practically exploded from the window as she said this. Mute raised his hand halfway and opened his palm and gestured towards her a 'thanks'.

She smiled and removed herself from the window, turning her attention elsewhere. **"How is it? Good right?"** She seemed pretty confident in her cooking abilities. **"You never disappoint."** The uncle said with a smirk present on his face. **"About** _ **him...**_ **you said a couple of days. I want an exact number."** He brought up after they began eating in silence. The low-grade armored knight paused on his meal and looked up at Cow Girl's relative. **"I only repeated what he wanted me to say. Ask him yourself."** At that said man opened the door that led to the house and looked at the one empty seat at the dining table. He assumed that it was meant to him and promptly pulled the seat out, which responded with a small screech.

He sat down and looked at the soup. He couldn't tell what was inside but felt that it was okay to eat. He reached for his visor and lifted it revealing only his eyes to the group. Brown, dispassionate, yet concentrated eyes stared at the bowl. He grabbed the spoon next to the bowl and began to politely and quickly eat pouring the soup into his helmet somehow managing to eat. **"Hey…"** The uncle spoke up. **"Just how long do you plan on staying here?"** The quiet man stopped eating, with his free left hand, lifted his three fingers and pinky.

" **Four days. Was expecting more."** He said mostly to himself and resumed eating. Cow Girl looked relieved. She thought some sort of argument would break out between the three men sitting near her. The rest of the day continued on without much happening. Goblin Slayer was outside performing the same kind of maneuvers and inspection that Mute did. **"You're thorough."** Was all he said and proceeded to head back to the house and get rest.

The taciturn man watched him go into the house and close the door behind him without looking back. Mute stayed up all night, looking down the scope of his sniper rifle whenever he spotted something. He did this on the roof. Never making any noise. The only things he encountered that night were wild animals. He was pleasantly surprised however at the near pitch black world. Technology had not advanced very far it seems. He was pleased.


	3. First Quest

" **Any goblin quests?"** _He_ walked up to the front desk observing the rowdy adventurers gathered near a bar. **"Yep! Two Right here."** Guild Girl handed him the two sheets of paper. Goblin Slayer looked it over. Pretty close to the guild, only a few goblins to dispose of. However, if you leave it alone, they will multiply quickly, all they need are a few of the village females and they become a nuisance. That's why it needs to be done as early as possible.

" **You're going alone?"** She asked looking for any of his party members. **"No."** Goblin Slayer looked to his left and watched as the silent man approached him. Guild Girl forced a smile as he looked at her.

On the way towards the village in distress, The man of few words taught the speechless human a lot of info on goblins and how to best deal with them. **"Don't write any of this down. Goblins learn from things they witness or read about."** He warned him. The other man bobbed his head in understanding. He thought back to when the goblins managed to get access to his weapons AND somehow manage to use them despite them not knowing a thing.

" **Goblins are the most potentially dangerous creatures."**

Goblin Slayer and Mute stooped low and observed for any sign of Goblins. They had just gone past the village, which turned out to be unharmed. They got here just in time. Mute took off his backpack and leaned it against a nearby tree. He detached the tightly strapped sniper rifle and began to set up, grabbing hollow point rounds, and unfolding the bipod already attached.

Goblin Slayer went on ahead. Luckily to Mute, the ruins these Goblins were taking refuge in were wide open in the front. The plan? Both adventurers thought to themselves: _**"Leave no Goblin alive."**_

Mute stayed there waiting for Goblin Slayer to start his assault on the ruins. Through his scope he watched his newfound companion draw his shortsword and slowly creep up to see who he could catch off guard. Mute finished preparing his unspecified anti-material rifle and aimed at a guard. Goblin Slayer couldn't get past both guards without waking the others. Mute took his left hand off the rifle and thumbed to his left. He got the message and focused his attention on the other guard.

As soon as he heard the rifleman shoot he lunged towards the other guard. He drew his dagger and placed his left hand over the goblin's mouth preventing him from making much noise. The other was shot in the forehead, the only sound he made was its own body hitting the floor. Goblin Slayer proceeded further into the base of the vile creatures and begin to, as silently as possible, kill those already asleep. Throat after throat was carved up by the hero's knife without any mercy. After the fourth Goblin, some of the others began to wake from their slumber. One of them was about to yell but was silenced by a round from Mute's rifle.

The goblin who witnessed this ran further down into the ruins to either gather more forces and it's leader or to run away. Much to Goblin Slayer's satisfaction, they didn't do the latter. Knowing full well taking Goblins on in an open area was suicide. He ran further down into the ruins where it was much smaller. Perfect for fighting goblins.

Mute dropped his Sniper rifle, quickly rummaged through his combat backpack, and stuffed shotgun shells into his vests. He loaded his shotty and ran towards the ruins. He ran into a layabout goblin late to the action. Not wanting to waste of a shell, he used the stock to smack the goblin next, he used his bowie knife to puncture the head.

Five bodies laid dead behind Goblin Slayer, his dagger was becoming more thick with the fat and blood of the goblins. He needed a new weapon soon. He suddenly stopped in his tracks and threw the knife towards one of the goblins chasing him. The other attempted to cut his tendons but was met with chainmail that prevented this. He bashed the goblin to a wall and started to deliver crushing blows to the head until he was sure it had died. He searched the body, in hopes of finding some sort of weapon. He did.

A crude hammer. Primitive. As always. He grabbed his torch and leaned it against where he had just recently killed a goblin. When his buddies showed up their attention was immediately drawn to him. Unfortunately for them, the goblin hunter silently came from one of the multiple tunnels, that they had passed, and utterly crushed the last one's head. The others turned around but each was met with a demon killing their brethren.

After equipping himself with another weapon he cautiously removed himself from the tunnel he had entered. He heard a loud noise go off and a couple of goblins scream. He looked to his left from where he had entered and watched as Mute stood there fighting off goblins with his shotgun and bowie knife. The ground began to rumble slightly underneath him. Mute was sent flying a good six feet, shotgun still in hand. A Champion had emerged. He got up quickly shotgun in one hand and sprinted towards the abomination. The champion predicted where he would end up and guessed correctly as he smacked Mute once more. This time, however, he raised his left arm up and much to the Champions disbelief parried the attack by using his momentum to balance himself on top of his weapon.

Mute ruptured the head, his brain manner went splattering all over the nearest wall along with the blood. The giant goblin fell backward, his grip loosening as he did this. Mute wasn't prepared for this and lost his footing. Quickly falling to the floor. He lay there for a few seconds until Goblin Slayer came up to him and offered his hand. He accepted it and, with his help, got up.

" **Look for survivors."** Goblin Slayer looked at the silent man who gave a thumbs up and ran back to his original position. Goblin Slayer entered the path from where the Champion appeared from. Exploration of the tunnel didn't present anything to him. He assumed the paths led to the other side of the tunnel he came from. He's seen it before so it wouldn't surprise him. Still...can't be too careful.

Mute went back to his original location, packed up his shotgun and switched positions. His focus was on the backside of the ruins. He performed the same setup, albeit a little more quickly, and provided reconnaissance. A few minutes later he watched as goblin slayer emerges from underground. Goblin Slayer and gave his own thumbs up to Mute who stopped looking through the scope.

 _ **I have an idea. Powerful Timed Explosives. Two minutes on each. More than enough time.**_

The assassin had written this down and when he came close to Goblin Slayer he showed it to him. **"You handle it. I have no experience with it."** After these words, the rifleman went to work and began to place the bombs on critical points of the building. He placed them on four engraved pillars, both tunnels, and two more at the entrance. He came running out as fast as he could just in case something went wrong. Both men stood where Mute had originally been shooting the goblins and went prone.

After about a minute, the ear-splitting explosion rang throughout the forest. Birds went flying the opposite direction their fear being directed towards the explosion. The building had entirely collapsed on itself in only a couple of seconds after the bombs triggered. As Mute was packing up Goblin Slayer requested: **"Please, show me how to create those."**

High Elf Archer, along with the Dwarf Shaman, Lizard Priest, and Priestess. They were waiting for Goblin Slayer. The short elder man began to sow gems into his vest. Lizard Priest commenced the unwrapping of the cheese he recently bought. Just as he was about to chomp down the ground quaked underneath their feet. **"Woah!"** High Elf Archer's ears perked up at the sound of a far-off explosion. Almost everyone had jumped not expecting something like that.

Nearly every adventurer stopped what they were doing and proceeded to make their way out looking for what caused the disturbance. They witnessed as a cloud of black smoke rose from inside a forest. **"Is it a dragon?"** One adventurer asked. **"This close to the guild? No way."** Another responded. Everyone had heard him but were too busy scanning the area in front of them looking for what monster did this. Nothing ever came out flying or from the forest. **"I hate to trouble you, but you said that is the direction Goblin Slayer Sama went, correct?"** Lizard Priest bowed to her height to make eye contact and as to not scare her. His kind had a tendency to do that.

" **I don't think Orcbolg is capable of doing that."** High Elf Archer blocked the sun's rays from hitting her eyes.

" **It had to be him!"** Priestess yelled. Her party looked surprised at her sudden outburst, she has never raised her voice that high before. **"O-oh...um...I mean...Mute."** She pressed the tip of her index fingers together in embarrassment. **"Oh, that's right!"** Guild Girl said as she slammed her right closed hand into her open left palm in realization. **"That man did go with him."**

After several minutes had passed the adventurers had begun to head back inside since nothing seemed to be happening. The group stayed outside for a while longer and watched as Goblin Slayer, first in line, and Mute, second, emerged from the forest covered in different kinds of residue. **"The goblins are no more."** The even more dirty knight walked up to the group, Mute still behind him. **"What'd I say about explosives?!"** High Elf Archer angrily poked at his headgear with her finger. **"You weren't there."** Responded the mechanical voice. She let out a small growl her eyes throwing daggers at him. She then focused her attention on the silent man. **"Don't think I forgot about you!"** She turned her attention to the somewhat startled man. He'd never been chewed out for doing what seemed natural to him. He made a small effort to shield himself from the harmless blows she was delivering to both adventurers. The rest of them began grinned at both men's obvious discomfort caused by the sharp-eared woman.

" **Someone left this for you, Beard-cutter."** Dwarf Shaman stopped sewing gems into his vests and unrolled the sheepskin skin paper by removing its ribbon. The dirt poor looking knight seized it and looked it over. After he finished looking it over he looked up and summarized for everyone. **"Goblin Slaying. One bag of gold coins per person. Come or don't. Your choice."**

The rifleman stopped amusing himself with his nine-millimeter pistol and scooted closer to Goblin Slayer reading the quest for himself. He pounded his chest enthusiastically showing everyone that he was in. Priestess released an exasperated sigh and massaged her temples. **"Okay, I think I get it."**

" **Do you?"** Goblin Slayer rotated his head and looked at the priestess.

" **Mostly. I get that if I act this surprised every time you do something I don't expect, I'll never last."** She shook her index finger in a scolding manner like she was talking to a kid rather than an adult. **"Listen, I told you before that if you don't really give us a choice, it doesn't count as consulting us."**

" **But there is a choice."** The man responded. **"To go or not to. Those are narrow choices."** She said.

" **It is?"**

" **Yes."**

Goblin Slayer tilted his head to the right in a perplexed manner. **"If we decide not to go. You'll head over there by yourself anyway right?"** High Elf Archer said. **"Of course."**

" **Then, it's not much of a discussion, now is it?"** She declared with a laugh. **"At least, he's softened up enough to and at least** _ **tries**_ **to consult us."** He said as he continued working on his vest. It would've been done sooner if it wasn't for that interruption. **"Utterly delightful! Sweet as nectar!"** Lizard Priest said in between mouthfuls of cheese. " **…Erm. Yes, it is a promising trend."**

" **Well, we'll make our choice, then."** Priestess clasped her hands near the middle of the staff that was previously leaning against a wall near her. **"Fine."** Was his closed her eyes and willfully said: **"I'm coming with you."**

" **I see."** Was all he said.

" **Well, you did come on my adventure a few days ago. Even though it ended up being goblin slaying. Not to mention him."** The high elf looked over at Mute who listened to their conversation attentively making sure not to miss a detail.

" **I'll help you again—in exchange for another adventure. That's alright, isn't it, Orcbolg?"**

" **Yes."** He nodded. **"That's fine."**

" **And no poison gas bombs this time!"** A sound came from his throat, not sure about her request. **"It's only fair."** Her finger in Goblin Slayer's chest. After a moment he muttered: **"But it's so effective."**

" **I Don't care. Another thing, no more fire, and no more floods. Think of something else!"** Goblin Slayer let a 'but' escape his lips but didn't talk after noticing her turn her head away showing she was no longer listening.

" **Don't bother, Beard-cutter. When those big ears start fluttering like that, whatever you say is going to go into one and out the other."** Dwarf Shaman said as he started putting the finishing touches on his vest.

" **Even the snakelike cleverness of milord Goblin Slayer is rendered moot in the face of such a barbarian."** Lizard Priest touched the tip of his nose with his tongue.

"… **Nothing to be done, then."**

" **Very well, then…"** Lizard Priest opened his dragon-like jaws. He mused over his words delicately, as if to show how carefully he had considered them. **"In that case, it seems you will need every spell caster you can get."**

" **Hang on, Scaly,"** Dwarf Shaman said stroking his beard. **"By that logic, oughtn't I to come along, too?"**

" **Oh-ho, how impolite of me."** Lizard Priest rolled his great eyes in his head.

Dwarf Shaman gave him a friendly elbow. **"Gods, you lot have backed me into a nice corner. I can hardly refuse now, can I?"**

Mute reached for his notebook and began to throw his thoughts onto the paper. Almost every time he did this the group would turn quite always curious about what he had to say.

 _ **Come find me when you're all ready.**_

He quickly reached for his notebook and writing utensil, securely strapping it onto himself. He walked up the stairs to one of the rooms, doing god knows what. Minutes after he had entered the room he heard a commotion seep through the door. He didn't know what was happening, nor did he care. All that mattered was the job ahead. He needed the money. It was troublesome but he managed to just barely get enough materials to repair his broken armor from the first fight with the goblins.

He took off his backpack and placed it next to him. It was time to manage his resources. Plenty of ammo, guns seemed in good condition, food and water (not that he needed it), and the backpack seemed to be in good condition. It would be problematic if everything were to drop in the middle of a fight.

As he was doing this, he felt eyes on him. Not sure whom, but he did. He moved his Glock closer towards himself in case anything were to go down. His blood began to pump through his body furiously and adrenaline began to build up as it always did. A knock on the door startled him and he instinctively reached for his gun and aimed at head level.

" **Um…"** The priestess was met with the barrel of a pistol right in between her forehead. Mute instantly lowered his weapon and bowed as an apology. **"Priestess need this room."** A voice said from behind her. Goblin Slayer with High Elf Archer on his back. Half passed out and mumbling slurred words. Priestess opened the door all the way to Goblin Slayer and let him go first. Mute put on his combat backpack and walked past priestess who glanced at his gun as he walked by.

" **Tomorrow is payday."** He thought to himself.


	4. The Sewers

The ride towards the water town was uneventful. If anything it bored the adventurers traveling there. Mute And Goblin Slayer sat across High Elf Archer, Dwarf Shaman. Since Lizard Priest was a little too big they let him have more space. The grimy armored knight checked his equipment and weapons as always to make sure he wasn't missing anything essential. Lizard Priest was busy keeping both of his hot-tempered companions from slaughtering each other.

Priestess looked on in amusement at the three. She noticed the mute writing on his notebook except he held it horizontally instead of vertically. He seemed to be very focused on it and would visibly look annoyed whenever the carriage they were in came across a lump on the road.

Once they arrived at the destination they all hopped off at the front of the entrance of the city. **"Ahh… My butt's sore!"** High Elf Archer produced a more than ample stretch to loosen up her body that jangled during the ride there.

Mute paid no attention to his companions as they conversed with one another. The money was all he had in mind. Modern weaponry was something that didn't exist in this world. He needed the coin to find materials to create munitions, and weapons for himself. _**"**_ _ **Traditional bullet jackets are made of copper or**_ _ **gilding**_ _ **metal, an alloy of copper and zinc. There are many other materials that are used in bullets, including aluminum, bismuth, bronze, copper, plastics, rubber, steel, tin, and tungsten."**_

He never forgot that. Sometimes there wouldn't be enough to go around amongst soldiers. So every single one of them were trained to produce ammunition themselves. A plan formed in his head as he subconsciously walked along with his teammates. Where could even set this up? Monsters seemed to attack every single area possible. What about the government in this place? Whoever controls this land will eventually catch wind of his advanced tech. They'll no doubt use it for their own militaristic gain.

It started to dawn on him that he might not even be able to regroup with his military. What if he never goes back? Was he destined to stay here forever? What if-

" **Hey snap out of it!"** High Elf Archer furiously waved one hand in front of Mute ending his train of thought. He realized he had been blocking the way for a lot of people in the middle of a busy crowd. **"Fuckin' moron!"** A large man shoved Mute out of the way. **"Gods...I hate tourists."** The man said stomping away angrily.

Mute stared at him, not really sure what his reaction should be. He ignored that and continued onward walking up to his group. **"Loser!"** High Elf Archer yelled at the man, who turned his head back around, raised his fist, and flipped them off. **"Do not let such a brute bother you."** Lizard Priest said as he threw daggers at the irascible man.

" **Ignore him. We should be meeting our quest giver. They should be at the Temple Of Law."** Goblin Slayer said, never losing focus. **"This way, then!"** High Elf Archer swished her hand in the direction of the Temple. **"You know the way?"**

" **I've been here before."** Then, she smiled widely and set off at a jaunty pace. This was the town where she had heard the song of Orcbolg—Goblin Slayer.

She made a show of swinging her hips as she walked down streets she knew and that others didn't.

Mute couldn't help but quick a glance at the high elf's behind and then look away. It wasn't his fault she swung it in such a suggestive way. It was like someone throwing a fake punch your way and you flinched. You couldn't help it. He noticed other men ogling her as well. Much longer than they should've.

" **Only men without their testes intact perform such** simple-minded, vacuous, and vapid shit **!** **If you see a 'pretty young thing..."** A sergeant screamed as he eyed a man standing in front of a younger Mute and other soldiers. **"...Then you put a hole in her! I do not care how beautiful she is. She is the enemy. You shoot. You kill. I do NOT care what she is doing. No questions asked."**

The sergeant tramped to him and grasped the man's bald head. **"LOOK AT IT!"** Hollering at the man, he shoved his head right next to his aiming at a projector. **"Look at what you did…"** His voice became more solemn. **"...You killed them. You. Not the enemy. A woman got the better of you. And your brothers paid for it."** One guard posted close to the sergeant made sudden eye contact. **"Execute him."** He ordered. The guard raised his rifle and-

" **Do you really think there are goblins here?"** Priestess's question had interrupted Mute's recollection. **"I believe so."** Goblin Slayer responded. **"Oh-ho, hmm?"** Lizard Priest stuck out his tongue in a show of interest. **"And milord Goblin Slayer, what makes you say that?"**

" **It has the air of a village attacked by a village."** Mute nodded in agreement, just because a place looks innocent doesn't mean there isn't anything sinister surrounding it. A lesson he learned well. **"Even Mute seems to think so."** High Elf Archer shook her head in disbelief. **"I doubt goblins are going to jump out at us right now."** Goblin Slayer kept his stride moving forward and sharply said:

" **I recall it happening once."**

" **G-Goblin Slayer, sir! Please try to be quieter…"** The bold knight shattered the silence in the temple by nearly stomping towards their quest giver: The Archbishop.

" **This is an urgent job. If they don't mind our entering, there's no reason to wait."**

" **I thought you seemed like the impatient type, Orcbolg."**

" **Everyone's impatient compared to an elf!"**

" **Such clamor is unbecoming. Be it a foreign deity or no, we are in the house of God."**

Archbishop of the Supreme God, Sword Maiden, rose from where she was. **"Goodness. Who might you be…?"**

" **We've come to slay goblins."** The goblin killer stopped striding and stayed still waiting for further details on his quest. Mute blocked everything out again. They all exchanged 'pleasantries' to one another. Only more waiting was necessary. He looked up. The mural caught his attention, it displayed the image of the battles fought during the age of gods. It displayed two beings. Mute was unsure of who they were but they played with some kind of board. Each held dice. He was sure it meant something but didn't care.

Goblin Slayer clutched a map in his hands, given to him by Sword Maiden. They kept on speaking to each other much to the silent man's dismay. He was growing impatient and began to play with a used up shotgun shell in his hand moving it around his fingers expertly. He noticed Goblin Slayer suddenly set off, map in hand. High Elf Archer quickly followed and shortly afterward so did Dwarf Shaman and Lizard Priest.

Priestess was about to follow but instead began to speak with the former adventurer. Mute watched, he didn't hear a single word but could _feel_ their lips moving. After seeing the girl turn around and start to run towards the group, he stopped leaning against a pillar and casually walked not bothering to catch up.

The sewers. Grimy and Filthy. Where rats would occasionally scamper by your feet, the water filled with excrement and whatever trash people threw down here. He watched four faces turn sour at first smell, but eventually, they got used to it.

The rifleman slammed his right foot down on the goblins legs. The action was accompanied by the sound of bones breaking under all that force. He stood over the creature who pitifully tried to crawl away. The goblin yelled painfully in his native tongue. Mute hunched over and began to pummel the goblin. Not too hard but not holding back either. Strike after strike echoed throughout the sewer.

Priestess seemed to visibly flinch as she stood, her back turned to him. Goblin Slayer buried a hatchet into a goblin's forehead. He kicked the green corpse into one of the rivers that flowed underground. The goblin briefly floated for a moment before letting out air bubbles and sinking into the corrupted waters.

" **That seems to be the last of them."** Lizard Priest wiped the blood from his blade, a fang-sword that had recently been buried in a goblin's throat.

High Elf Archer raised her bow, quiver at the ready, bounced her ears up and down. She pulled back and let go of the arrow that slashed through the air. The sound of a goblin letting loose his last words echoed in the sewers. The soft body hit the ground with barely a sound.

The silent man still had one lifeless goblin in his right hand. He ignored the group as he leaned over the ledge. He tossed the goblin down into the river effectively getting rid of it. A red liquid was smeared all over his hands which dripped from just that one goblin's blood. It had been three days since they first came here. Ambushes from goblins held no pattern the attacks seemingly random. Because of this, they always needed to be on their guard.

" **Over here, lad."** Dwarf Shaman called out to Mute. The group had huddled together. A droplet of rain collided with Priestess' face. She looked up and notice it began to rain. The adventurers acted quickly, sitting in relatively dry spots and equipping their wasted overcoats over them preventing themselves from getting wet.

Mute still stood up not bothering to protect himself in the slightest. **"Lad, you'll catch the vilest of illnesses if ye stand there."** Mute wanted to explain to them why he wasn't taking a form of shelter. He walked over to the group and held his notebook underneath a small blindspot from the rain. He quickly wrote something down and presented it to the group the notebook under his hunched body to prevent it from getting wet.

 _ **All of my gear is resistant to most liquids. It doesn't get wet. Unless fully submerged.**_

The adventurers took a closer look at his gear and came to the realization that the water was indeed hitting him, however, it slid off quickly without leaving anything wet. The man in the dirty combat armor placed the notebook directly at the base of his backpack to assure it stayed dry.

" **Very useful indeed."** Lizard Priest complimented the versatility of his gear. **"It must be quite troublesome to gather materials to create such a thing."** Mute bobbed his head up and down at the dwarf's correct assumption.

Mute leaned against the wall in between Lizard Priest and Dwarf Shaman, waiting for the group to decide when to move up or for it to stop raining. **"…Hey, Orcbolg. Why don't you like lanterns?"** High Elf Archer poked at the light in perplexity, then brushed at it as if to wipe away some soot. **"You can just hang them from your belt. You don't need to use a whole hand to hold them."**

" **A torch can be a weapon."** Goblin Slayer said. **"A lantern is useless if it breaks."** He looked at the waterway, ignoring the droplets that dripped from his helmet. **"You should probably at least take off your helmet… don't you think?"**

Mute looked off into the distance looking for movement using his right eye. He thought his night vision would become useless once it had run out of power. Luckily for him, it was solar powered. Whenever he had the chance he always wore it on his chest, letting the sun do all the work.

Mute was done waiting he stopped leaning and re-equipped his sniper rifle. He began to walk away from the group looking for goblins to hunt. The faster he cleared this out the better.

" **Hey! Where are you going?"** High Elf Archer said almost rising up from her spot. **"Goblin Slaying of course."** The grimy knight informed the group. **"Lad! You're only going to end up swarmed by goblins!"** Dwarf Shaman yelled at him as he kept walking away. **"Even he does survive he'll just end up exhausted, leaving him totally open."**

" **Wrong."** Goblin Slayer swiftly said. **"What do you mean, Orcbolg?"** The high elf questioned him. **"He never gets tired, he never needs to rest, he never to eat, he never needs to drink."**

" **You must be joking."** Dwarf Shaman bore a look of total disbelief in his words. **"Such a thing is absurd. Every creature needs sustenance in this world. Whether it is food or something else entirely."** Lizard Priest added in.

" **It's the truth."** Goblin Slayer assured the group that his claims are not fictitious. **"If only I had such abilities."** He looked at Mute who disappeared into a passageway. He was envious. **"Even if what you say is true, he can still die out there."** Priestess worriedly looked the direction Mute had faded away from.

" **We should put something in our stomachs."** Goblin Slayer said shortly, in a quiet voice changing the subject. **"A partially empty stomach keeps the blood from pooling. But too empty and we'll slow down."** Everyone but Goblin Slayer sighed and hoped that they would encounter the man with a deathwish alive later on. **"Well, if something simple will do…"** Priestess dug into her bag and came up with something wrapped in oil paper.

"… **Maybe I should learn to cook."** High Elf Archer muttered. **"Don't worry, I can teach you after this is all over."** Priestess offered and **"I was hoping I could make something a little less tough, but I don't think anyone feels much like eating anything fancy right here, anyway…"**

The silent man stayed low and stuck in the shadows. Almost immediately after he had left, he noticed goblin footsteps splishing and splashing on the small puddles created by the rain. Every time he came across a split in a path he would quickly peek and scan for any more demons lurking around.

He kept on walking deeper and deeper into the sewers still encountering nothing. This was worrying him. He was perfect bait for goblins. After all, he is alone and they're mindset dictates they swarm one person with six of each other to guarantee wins.

So what the hell? Where are they?! This was getting him angry. He contemplated whether he should go back or not. He decided to keep on going just a little bit more and if he found nothing, then he'd just retrace his steps and squad up once more. Mute stopped moving, threw his back against the wall when he heard the pitter patters of footsteps. They were coming from all directions. They had him surrounded. Good.

He traded his rifle for his shotgun. He sprinted to one of the passageways and without even aiming fired his shotgun down it. The pellets struck and pierced through every goblin all bunched together. It made for easy kills. One managed to survive the shot but wasn't spared as Mute fired one bullet in between its eyes. He heard the war cry of goblins from behind him.

He pulled the pin of one of the flashbangs he kept strapped to his hip and whipped it towards them. His visor shielded his eyes and ears from the noise and the blinding white cold light it produced.

With bowie knife in hand, he cut down each defenseless goblin who couldn't see nor hear properly. Their life was obscured from white to deathly black in mere moments. Eleven goblins lay dead around him, their blood polluting the puddles. The distant voice of priestess unexpectedly exploded back from where he had come from. It was the same chant she used to protect others from anything, usually projectiles. He began to make his way over there as fast as he could.

Once he did arrive he saw his comrades run away from a giant alligator much larger than the ones he was used to seeing. He reverted back to his rifle and aimed at the beast. He tried lining up the shot but the creature had gone after his fellow teammates. He went after it.

….Gone. Somehow. He had lost the alligator, maybe it retreated into the depths of the river. Shotgun in hand, he walked slowly and came across another river connected to the one near the party earlier. Hold on. Was that...singing?

He stopped moving. Goblins sang a sea shanty very poorly in sync along with water being split open by what he could only assume to be a boat. He saw a light in the middle of the river that their ship seemed to be going towards. Was this some sort of trap Goblin Slayer set? Whatever the trick was he didn't care.

Mute casually walked up near the three boats heading in his direction. C4 in hand, he let the goblins spot him. They laughed and smiled at the lone adventurer, somehow convinced he would be easy pickings. Mute had the same thought. However, whatever they had planned was suddenly interrupted by the sound of snapping jaws and panic from goblins.

The pale alligator from earlier had just snatched one of the goblins. They may have had numbers but they were at a clear disadvantage since whatever was killing their brothers couldn't be seen when underwater.

This continued on for some time, no goblin was able to stand up to this creature. Mute kicked a random pebble on the floor in disappointment. He had really wanted to blow them up. At least there was still the alligator.

At that moment the silent man had just come to the realization. From what Goblin Slayer told him, goblins are cowards to the core. Yet they decided to build boats, where a large man-eating alligator resided.

That didn't make sense. Someone taught them to build these vessels. This invasion is man-made. Someone set this up. When? Who? Why? Whoever it was, they were going to end up with a whole clip of lead embedded in their noggin'.

Goblin Slayer waited until the sounds of battle had subsided, then suggested a temporary withdrawal. No one objected. They were out of spells and out of arrows. They didn't have enough items and their strength was running low. They walked silently into the dim sewers, putting the battle between the goblins and the alligator behind them. Sometime later they arrived at a ladder. With Mute waiting there.

His comrades looked nearly drained. They seemed slightly surprised to see him there, he had somehow gotten to the entrance before they did. Unlike them, he showed no physical sign of fatigue. **"Sorry, Mr. Deathwish, but I'm tired. WE'RE tired."** High Elf Archer said speaking up for the group. **"Tell me how many goblins you kill when I come back."** The cheap armored knight requested. Mute nodded. For now, he was going to fill in for all of them.


	5. It's A Trap!

This was a good as time as any to whip out his walkman. Why a walkman? Because it doesn't run on batteries. This world obviously doesn't have any outlets to charge anything electronic. It was a precaution he took. It was actually illegal to take anything that could count as entertainment to missions and such.

Sunlight began to ooze into the sewers only presenting a small dim glow in certain areas. Ever since his party decided to take a break he'd encountered less and fewer goblins as the night continued. It was probably the fifth most boring thing he's ever done. Which is why he always brought the cassette player.

Most of the tapes he carried consisted of songs from a band his friend called 'Primus'. She had collected what she deemed **"The best"** of the band and secretly gave him the walkman. He didn't know why she did it. But he was glad she forced him to take it one day, otherwise, he would've never known the joy that is music.

Mute breathed in and out heavily, not out of exhaustion but because it was the closest thing he had to any kind of speech using his throat. He looked at his walkman and pressed the play button.

He always had one song inserted into it. He let the music wash over as he laid his head against the walls of the sewers. Goblins might attack, but who cares? He had a line of sight on two tunnels that branched, all he to do was aim and fire. Speaking of which…

He had wasted what he deemed to be a lot of ammo and explosives. He didn't have much left. He'd have to rely on the weapons this world provided if he couldn't get the money faster than he fired bullets. _She_ said that this song was about soldiers. About him. About his comrades. She said there are messages in most songs out there. All you had to do was look a little deeper into them. He never understood.

Mute decided one song was enough and he pressed the button that commanded the walkman to stop replaying the song. He removed the tape and placed a different song inside for next time he felt like listening to the music. Stuffing it back in his backpack he decided to keep on exploring the sewers.

He began to hear the deeply suppressed sounds of folks from above him, indicating that people were starting to get up. Sooner or later it'd turn into a ruckus up there. He thought back to the group that had gone up above almost a day ago. First up is Goblin Slayer.

Something clearly happened to him that sparked this insatiable thirst to slaughter every goblin he comes across. Mute doubted he'd ever get to hear the tale from him. Even friends he had once refused to share some of the horrors they'd witnessed unless absolutely necessary, and sometimes even then they had trouble doing so.

Mute was lucky Goblin Slayer shared every piece of wisdom he had about goblins with him, and even luckier he had such great memory. Mute didn't know what would've happened if he never knew anything about them.

Second is Priestess.

A young girl, a teen still from what he could tell. Timid, but brave when it counted. To him, it seemed normal. Letting teenagers fight that is. He remembered when he went to fight for the first time. **"You show promise."** He remembered the sergeant saying these words. Cheated out of his childhood. From then on all he ever did was fight. That was his life. Still is. He made a mental note to keep an eye on the girl since she seemed the most defenseless out of all of them. The third is High Elf Archer.

A high elf (obviously), hot-headed and a bit childish, constantly getting into petty squabbles with the dwarf. A ranger like him, but that was about all they had in common. They didn't share much personality wise. Subject to a lot of stares from men and rightfully so. High elves are all supposed to be beautiful, but from what he heard she was better looking than most other high elves. Fourth is the dwarf.

Dwarf Shaman held a lot more wisdom despite being younger than the two-thousand-year-old elf in the party. He always knows what to do and what to say. Always kindly sharing advice with the group without them ever requesting, not that they minded. He reminded Mute of those toys he once saw a child carrying. Something fantasy like. He was the source of anger and annoyance for the elf.

Lizard Priest resembled a native American with the robes, war paint, and accessories he wore on him. The perfect balance that Dwarf Shaman and High Elf Archer needed in the group. He has a religious motive just like Priestess. Sometimes they would pray together whenever encountering a dead body. Mute didn't know much about religion, he doesn't care for it. And he definitely didn't know why they did this.

How long had Mute been walking? He instinctively looked at the watch strapped to directly underneath his palm on the wrist. Surprisingly, the watch had adapted to this world, displaying the correct time. _'11: 12 AM'_ read the digital watch.

He assumed his squadmates were already down here, but he was too far to hear anything from them. He decided heading back would be too time-consuming. Not to mention they might head elsewhere, leaving him searching for them. So he didn't bother.

He came to a dead end. No, wait. A bridge used to be here. It seemed to have been washed away. When that was Mute didn't know but he had to get to the other side. Even though he had no map, he knew exactly where he was.

The adventurers carried one and he had taken a mental screenshot of it a day ago when looking at it himself. Something he couldn't have done when he was younger. This was the first time he had needed his somewhat superhuman abilities. Without any effort, he jumped across the ledge landing safely on the other side.

As he kept on walking with his pistol, a suppressor attached to it, at the ready. He noticed a change in the atmosphere. The air seemed...fresher? The ground he walked on changed from mossy to cracked marble. Paintings were now plastered into the walls they seemed to have aged rather well. They lost none of their beauty. But he knew a graveyard when he saw one.

More specifically, a catacomb, considering he was underground. He noticed that the paintings had beings of all kinds, resembling adventurers. This must be where they were buried. Mute smiled at the irony, the resting place of honorable adventurers had been turned into a nest full of pure evil.

He came across a very suspicious heavy and thick door. He'd been ambushed enough times to know when something felt like a trap. Unlike everything else here it was untouched. As he stared at it, he felt eyes on him once more.

Goblins no doubt, what would happen if he went further? Was there another ambush there too? What if there were too many? He thought to himself. His concern wasn't on whether he'd stay alive or not. Preserving ammo is of high priority to him.

He decided to keep on moving forward, the feeling of eyes on him disappearing ever so slowly. Maybe it was time for a song once again. He found a position where he could see if anything were to come for him and pulled out his walkman again. He pressed the play button and was once again whisked away to another dimension.

After a while he suddenly felt the urge to stop listening, he felt something happening. He didn't know what but he sensed something for sure. You don't know why, but you just do. After he paused the music he heard distant voices from where he had come from. **"Gas!"** he heard faintly. The combined voices of his party muffled behind a door made him rapidly store his walkman away.

As he ran back from where he came he saw movement through the keyhole. He peeked inside and watched his comrades moving about. **"It's no good! There's no other way out!"** He heard High Elf Archer cry. **"What…are we going…to do, Goblin Slayer, sir…?"** Priestess could be heard as well. Her fear clearly evident. Mute grabbed the door handle and attempted to push it open. It didn't budge. **"Is that…"** Mute heard Dwarf Shaman say.

" **Hey is that you?"** High Elf Archer peeked through the keyhole. **"Can you open the door?"** Goblin Slayer asked from behind the elf. Mute took a couple of steps back and rushed towards the door using his shoulder to ram into it. He tried once more but still, nothing happened. It didn't even move in the slightest. If he tried any harder he'd just break his arm. **"The door won't even open from the other side."** The elf said aloud letting everyone know. **"Only one option then."** The grimy knight said.

" **Wrap this in a hand cloth, and put it over your mouth and nose."** Goblin Slayer gave orders to the party, orders that Mute didn't listen to. He knew the goblins would arrive in front of the door any minute now. He heard it then. Tiny footsteps to his left along with the sound of battle drums. And something else. Something heavy. He ran the opposite direction. Wait. Mute stopped as he noticed the goblins coming down towards the tunnel. He aimed his pistol.

Shots rang out throughout the catacombs. Along with shells hitting the floor before any goblin did. **"He's already fighting."** Goblin Slayer mumbled getting into position behind Priestess' shield wall she had cast. **"He won't last long against the horde!"** Lizard Priest said. And he was correct. Shot after shot rang out, putting an end to many goblins.

The adventurers helplessly listened as Mute tried his best to handle all of them at once. No matter how powerful one was they never stand a chance against a horde. They heard a heavy body drop onto the floor along with someone's weapons. The goblins cackled as they looked down at the adventurer with many daggers embedded all over his body. They then focused their attention on the door.

The remaining party members noticed this and only had a brief moment to mourn the loss of their member before the goblins started to break down the door. It would not stand there forever against brute strength and they're crude weapons.

Mute awoke to the sound of someone in heavy armor crash into something. Along with a hack of blood. He slightly raised his head and looked on as his party members began to be overwhelmed. He turned his head and saw all the daggers sticking out of him. It was a miracle none of them were poisoned. Maybe they thought it wasn't necessary. Their mistake. He reached into his vest and pulled out his only one auto-injector. He hated using these. This thing can restore all wounds and missing limbs to a person. But the process was unbearably painful.

He visibly trembled at the amount of pain his brain was all too preoccupied with registering. For once, he was thankful he is incapable of speech, otherwise, any noises he would've made would be a dead giveaway. One by one the daggers were pushed away and fell to the floor as his body steadily mended itself.

" **Goblin Slayer! Sir!"** Priestess called out to him from where she watched the battle in the back row. **"Orcbolg! Are you alright?!"** High Elf Archer and Dwarf Shaman both looked toward him at Priestess's shout. But there was no response. **"No! Goblin Slayer…sir…?"** Her legs trembled under her as if she were on a rocking ship. Priestess wept at the sight of a most likely dead knight. The goblins cackled repulsively at this. A favorite sound of theirs.

Mute still played dead. Waiting for his body to fully heal. He looked at the beaten down Goblin Slayer and then at his weapons. His bowie knife was closest to him. Going for his more powerful weapons would only end up with him being struck down once more.

" **Lemme go! Get off—"**

High Elf Archer was dragged to the ground, and with a scream, she vanished under a green mountain of goblins. For a second, one thin leg stuck out from under the pile, kicking at the air.

" **Long-ears!"** Dwarf Shaman was the first to notice what was happening, and the only one able to respond. He tossed aside his sling and, with a yell, took a hand ax from his belt. **"You little beasts! By the gods, get off her!"**

This was a terrible time to have flashbacks. Mute recalled, this very similar event occurring. His comrades being shot down where the stood. Missiles and other projectiles falling from the sky, sending rock, limbs, and blood in every direction. They're screams muffled by the battlefield. Where he lost his friends. He grew uncharacteristically insane with fear and rage.

Priestess screamed in pure agony. High Elf Archer's yells muffled by the goblins. Lizard Priest and Dwarf Shaman desperately trying to fight them off. Goblin Slayer's left eye blazed a bloody demonic red. Mute watched as he reached for a healing potion with his bent wrist. After searching the area with his right hand Goblin Slayer found himself a weapon. His shield.

Mute finally exploded from his position letting instinct and adrenaline do most of the work. He sprinted towards his bowie knife and another dagger a goblin had dropped onto the floor. He joined the fray once more along with Goblin Slayer who had beaten three goblins to death with the rim of his shield. They thought finishing him off would be easy. Wrong.

Mute decapitated two goblins who hadn't even noticed him get up. Their heads dropped and rolled on the ground, tongues sticking out with their eyes rolled back. The goblin champion who toyed with his new catch failed to notice the two bloodthirsty adventurers behind him.

Mute used both of his daggers and skewered the champion's left leg. Goblin Slayer leaped into the air letting out his war cry. He wrapped the garrote wire Mute had given to him. Staying on its back he held his grip pulling and holding on as hard as he could. The champion choked on his own scream barely able to breathe.

The champion could no longer see the priestess he had been about to have his way with. She had rolled onto the ground like an abandoned toy. The champion twisted his own body, struggling. He rammed backward into a wall. Blood erupted from Goblin Slayer once more, he still held his firm grip never letting go.

The rifleman took this chance to recollect his dropped his weapons sprinting away from Goblin Slayer he looked down the tunnel where he saw his weapons, being inspected by goblins. He rushed at them like a madman waving his knives around haphazardly trying to intimidate the goblins. It worked somewhat as they panicked for a quick second at the incoming adventurer.

Mute threw both knives, both of them hit the two goblins, penetrating their throats, he slid and sent a kick so hard to the head he had actually snapped it in half. He fumbled somewhat with his weapons trying to get back in action. He equipped his sniper and looked down the scope, he didn't bother going prone since the champion wasn't far away. An arrow stuck out from the champion's chest courtesy of High Elf Archer.

The sniper spat the bullet, letting a roar escape its barrel. The champion bent backward at the pain he felt. Goblin Slayer had used his broken arm to pull out one of the champion's eyes. Before being able to react to any further it's head recoiled to the left along with his brain manner splattering all over the walls.

The remaining goblins hesitated at the loss of their leader. Could they still pull this off? This led to their defeat. Lizard Priest used this opportunity to start slaying goblins with his fang shaped dagger spilling blood all over himself and the walls. Goblin Slayer despite his condition stared down fearful goblins.

Why were they afraid of this man? They could easily finish him off, but…

" **Who's next…?"** The voice was dispassionate, toneless, and cold as the wind blowing through a valley. **"Is it you…?"**

Something told them: this man is _dangerous_.

Mute had casually walked in on the situation. Sniper still in hand he turned it on the opposite end. Using it's length to his advantage and in one swing crushing their heads. He let Goblin Slayer use him for support. They walked slowly, each uttering not a sound.

One of the goblins shouted as loud as his tiny lungs possibly could. An order of retreat no doubt. Each goblin was most interested in his own survival. All they wanted was to escape this place. The idea of holding their ground against impossible odds never occurred to them, and they all gained momentum quickly. First two, then four, then eight fled…

Goblin Slayer suddenly lurched at a strange angle more blood flowing through his helmet. **"Orcbolg…!"** High Elf Archer worked her way over to him and supported him from the other side along with Mute's help. She ignored the blood that ran onto her torn clothes and exposed skin that oozed from the nearly dead knight. She felt a warmth on her cheeks and suddenly realized tears were beading up in her eyes as she bit her lip.

" **Try to have some…dignity, you two. After all, we still…have to get home…"** Dwarf Shaman said as he watched both of them help Goblin Slayer. **"Well, now. It was a close call, but I think she will come through."** Lizard Priest held Priestess in his arms, with her irregular breathing back to normal.

As they all made their way back to the entrance, Mute blamed himself for what happened. If he hadn't decided to listen to this stupid walkman then none of this would've happened. The sergeant was right. He almost let himself and all of his friends die. He swore on his own life that it would **NOT** happen again.


	6. Giant Eye

Mute disappeared once the group had gone above ground. Take it all away. He didn't want it anymore. His sergeant was right. He was always right. Why did he ignore his advice? The friends he wanted to protect, and spend time with almost died because of him.

Reaching for his Walkman, he stared at the object coldly. The source of his anger and sadness. With his pistol drawn he tossed the object into the air and fired. The object shattered in mid-air, no longer in working condition.

Mute found Goblin Slayer and Priestess near an ice cream vendor eating the delicious frozen treat. Spearman and Witch strolled up the two. What they talked about Mute didn't know. Spearman handed Goblin Slayer something in a bag.

So he was finally going to try it.

" **When I say predicament, I mean—that thing,"** Dwarf Shaman said when the explorers reunited the next day. In the deepest reaches of the catacombs, they had found a room like a chapel. Benches of carved stone filled the small room, at the end of which was an altar. In it floats an eye just as large as a person.

The monster's geometrically shaped bloodshot pupil turned this way and that. From its eyelid grew wiggling feelers. On the end of each was an eye, a good amount of them. Each one seemed to be a tinier version of the main eye in a way that was hard to describe, and each bore a glinting twinkle. Its mouth was full of sharp teeth that suggested a large cat. It was very unlikely to be friendly.

Muting their conversation, the silent man only watched their lips move as he looked down at the pouch Goblin Slayer had handed him. **"Just in case."** He told him. Ever since Mute leveled those ruins, Goblin Slayer had wanted to use explosives. He told Mute that he had heard from a coal miner that if a spark is lit in a room full of powder, it spreads quickly and then explodes.

He looked on as his party weaves their magic against the Giant Eye. That was the name the grimy knight had given it. **"Giant Eye will do for a name."** Dwarf Shaman turned his head to look up at him and with a touch of sarcasm said: **"Never one to get too fancy, were you?"**

" **Excuse me, Mute. What do you plan to do?"** Lizard Priest snapped him out of his staring at the giant eye. A jack of all trades he was, it was up to him to decide what he wanted to do.

 _ **I'll follow Goblin Slayer's lead.**_ He wrote, showing it to everyone.

For the first time in awhile, he let his backpack fall to the floor along with a heavy thump, blowing away dust from the floor as he did so. He lost almost half of his original weight with that on. Thankfully, his military allowed him to use the prototype armor that barely weighed a thing at all, therefore he was able to carry more on his overly large backpack.

He took a knee and unzipped one of the three zippers and pulled a melee weapon, more specifically, a Tri-dagger. One of the deadliest knives in the world. He removed his dulled bowie knife and put it where the dagger originally was. **"Oh-ho! What other dangerous weapons do you carry in there, lad?"** Dwarf Shaman looked on as Mute played around with the sheath. **"Hey, Orcbolg. No torch today?"**

" **There's something I want to try. Fire would only get in the way,"** he said and carefully closed the window of the lantern he carried on his hip. **"Let's go."** At his signal, the adventurers all leaped into the room. The eye gazed at the group. This is its way of attacking. Priestess realized this before anyone else did and began to chant. **"O Earth Mother, abounding in mercy, by the power of the land, grant safety to we who are wea-"**

Giant Eye let out a yell in its strange language, knocking Priestess into the air by an invisible shock wave. "Are you alright?!" High Elf Archer called loudly, trying to run even as she maintained a line of sight to shoot. Priestess sat up, panting. It was then that she realized something.

" **I can't… I can't use spells…!"**

The cry ran through the party before anyone could cast anything. They had two priests and a shaman. Half the party is spellcasters. The ability to use magic is a matter of life and death for them. One man, however, set out to prove that magic was a necessity that he didn't need. Mute forcefully got the Giant Eye's attention by throwing a rock at it. Goblin Slayer used this opportunity to stop and throw something in an egg shape form at the eye. It exploded into a blackish-red smoke. Tear gas.

Mute pressed a button underneath his helm. Half a second later the small portion of his neck covered all of his skin, fully shielded from the gas Goblin Slayer pitched at the monster. Mute had a hard time seeing through it of course and only heard as Dwarf Shaman let loose his spell. **"Come out, you gnomes, it's time to build! Let all this space with earth be filled! Fear no wind and fear no waves—a solid wall keeps them at bay!"**

With Everyone but Mute behind the wall, the eye focused its attention on those behind the shield and used it's Disintegrate to start to cut down the middle of the wall a red line left as a trail. The adventurers had barely enough time to react as it exploded sending them tumbling back.

" **What are we supposed to do about this thing?!"** High Elf Archer yelled.

" **For now, fall back!"** Goblin Slayer ordered sounding sharp and sure. He drew his sword in his right hand and held up his shield on his left, putting Dwarf Shaman and Priestess behind him.

" **Got it…!"** The high elf sought safety there as well, taking the last few steps at a leap. She hoped to avoid the Giant Eye's laser impact near her feet. The heat ray singed off a few strands of her hair, and she cursed once or twice in elvish. She tumbled haphazardly but found herself near Goblin Slayer.

" **What are you waiting for, lad?!"** Dwarf Shaman yelled as the Giant Eye attacked Mute who was still left in the room with it. Rolling and jumping nimbly easily avoiding contact with the laser he gradually made his way to the group. As he took one last leap to safety, Giant Eye released an invisible shockwave similar to that when he attacked Priestess.

Thrown onto his back, Mute became an easy target. The heat ray stayed on him for a few seconds, dishing heaps of damage to his left arm. He got up and with the meat hanging off his arm, he made it back safely behind the group.

" **By the gods!"** Dwarf Shaman rushed over to him being careful not to touch his arm. Priestess felt like throwing up again. Mute reached into his vest with his still good arm and drew the syringe from earlier. He stabbed himself in his left arm and watched as the effects took place. They all gazed in awe as his armor along with his arm had totally mended itself without any signs of damage taking place previously.

" **I've heard tales of Platinum-ranked adventurers able to heal the gravest of wounds."** Lizard Priest rolled his tongue out and touched the tip of his nose. **"Are you alright?"** Goblin Slayer asked Mute who firmly nodded 'yes'. Even though he's done that plenty of times, the feeling of your arm restoring rapidly was something he never got used to.

" **We can't use spells, and it's got a heat ray and more extremities than all of us put together. We can't win!"** Dwarf Shaman grumpily admitted to himself. **"No,"** Goblin Slayer said, rifling through his item bag. **"There's something I want to try."**

" **Remember, fire, water, and poison gas is off-limits."**

" **I remember."** Goblin Slayer said calmly to High Elf Archer, who had narrowed her eyes at him. **"I didn't bring any agents of fire or water with me. And I doubt poison would work."**

The silent man blocked the noise out again and watched his team formulate a plan. Goblin Slayer after nodding his head along with his teammates leaped in along with High Elf Archer and began dropping something onto the ground. Wheat flour.

" **Drink deep, sing loud, let the spirits lead you! Sing loud, step quick, and when to sleep they see you, may a jar of fire wine be in your dreams to greet you!"** Dwarf Shaman chanted his spittle hitting the eye. It began to wobble in the air, struggling to stay awake. He only managed to hit the monster thanks to the elf's efforts in distracting the creature.

Goblin Slayer finished what he was doing and ran back to safety along with High Elf Archer following him. Once they regrouped Lizard Priest summoned his Dragontooth Warrior in the room. Priestess then chanted: **"O Earth Mother, abounding in mercy, by the power of the land, grant safety to we who are weak…!"** High Elf Archer let loose a fire arrow hitting the Giant Eye. The Giant Eye was roused from its stupor by a sudden piercing pain.

It found its eye run through by a bud-tipped arrow. There was dust everywhere; it could barely see. But it could make out the humanoid silhouette coming toward it, weapon in hand. Would these intruders never learn?

If the creature had anything we would recognize as feelings, it was probably quite annoyed at that moment. It swept around, opening its eye wide and taking aim with its tentacle eyes. Its terrible Disintegrate build up enough heat to do critical damage, and its light began to glow.

Goblin Slayer shouted: **"Plug your ears, open your mouths, and duck!"**

Despite wearing a ballistic helmet that protected him, the sound pierced through his ears rendering him deaf for a minute or so. Rising up to his feet he checked himself for any wounds or missing equipment. He looked at it, the explosion had sent the being skyrocketing towards the ceiling completely flattened. Bit by bit it slowly peeled off a meaty sound coming from it as it fell. At least that's what he would've heard if he wasn't deaf right now.

Goblin Slayer in his usual bold, nonchalant stride walked up to the dead being and drove his sword into it to make sure it was dead. High Elf Archer laid into Goblin Slayer most likely about his use of explosives. She then bore a look of defeat on her face as she sighed not bothering with the knight.

Mute's attention went to the mirror that still hung in the middle of the room. The rest of his squad took an interest in it as well. His hearing was starting to come back. **"Could it be a …a object of worship?"** Priestess leaned forward slightly, approaching the altar. **"You might best refrain from touching it carelessly."** The dwarf warned the teenager. **"Yes, but… We can't not investigate it, can we?"** she said still looking into the mirror. **"We have a scout in this party."** Dwarf Shaman said turning his head to look at Mute.

The rifleman walked up to the altar and stood in front of the object his interest piqued. Priestess reached out with one pale finger and gently touched the surface of the mirror. Ploop. Her finger sank into it. She instinctively pulled her hand back, and the surface of the mirror rippled like a pond. Tiny waves ran out from where she had touched it, rolling across the entire surface. **"Oh! Uh, this…"**

" **Get in formation."** Goblin Slayer ordered, replacing Priestess near the mirror as she hurriedly drew back. Each of the party members drew their weapons and readied for battle as the mirror kept shifting. The rippling surface twisted, turned crazily and, after a time, began to shine with a strange light. They saw a wilderness covered in peculiar green sand. A sun glinted in the disturbingly dead twilight sky.

Using plasma rope he removed from his large backpack, Mute attached it to the altar floor and used the safety to securely strap himself in. **"Don't be foolish, lad. There could be hundreds of those little devils behind that gate!"**

Mute would've told him he'd be fine if he could. Instead, he walked into it without any fear or caution. The group watched as the mirror rippled crazily after Mute passed through. They watched as he looked around the mirror, then ahead of him. Something else caught their attention. A massive, bizarre mechanical device.

Small human silhouettes struggled to push it along. As it moved, it wobbled slowly, like a round mortar in a track. Except they weren't human. Goblin Slayer knew what they were.

For some unknown reason, the mirror began to ripple fading slowly into the jungle where they had first met Mute. **"Mute! Come back!"** High Elf Archer yelled. Goblin Slayer had reacted quickly and with all his might pulled at the cord.

Mute fell backward not expecting it to happen. He did a roll back towards the magic gate and dolphin dived through it barely managing to make it. What had caused the mirror to change location?

" **You fool! You could've just died if it wasn't for us."** Priestess yelled at him and jabbed his chest with her staff. He apologetically bowed his head letting Priestess know he was really sorry.

" **Oh…!"** High Elf Archer exclaimed at the scene barely visible in the swirling picture. Her long ears flicked, and she pointed with her hand and yelled. **"Look at that!"** Everyone looked. **"Just now I saw—I saw the ruins in that jungle! Where we were a couple days ago!"**

" **The one with the unusually well-equipped goblins?"** Goblin Slayer asked his mind never leaving the subject of those imps. Out of nowhere, howling voices came from the depths of the earth. Voices of immense hatred. Voices of jealousy and lust. Voices that sought to steal, to rape, to kill. Cruel shouts rife with greed. Mute looked on as the exhausted group emotions sank down to that of despair. They've had enough of goblins.

" **Hey… Oh, man… Can't we catch a break?"** High Elf Archer sat down weakly. Her ears drooped pitifully, all her energy of moments ago gone. Her delicate face fell, and it looked as if she might cry. Priestess came up next to her, wearing much the same expression. With fearful, trembling, stiff hands, she gripped her sounding staff so tightly her skin began to turn white, and her eyes were quivering.

Mute blocked out the noise again. He thought to himself. What should he do? They are surrounded. The enemy coming from every direction. What to do….

Goblin Slayer placed his hand on his shoulder and said: **"Remember what we talked about?"** Mute seemed confused at first, then realized what he meant. His explosives. Just a few of them left. **"We're going to need it."** After quickly formulating a plan in his head he gave directions to his party without explaining his reasoning. They didn't object or bother questioning because he was their last hope.

Mute finished placing his C4 on what he deemed to be weak spots and stood in behind Priestess' shield she had summoned along with Goblin Slayer by his side. His role was to buy time for Lizard Priest to remove the mirror, that's all anyone knew about Goblin Slayer's plan. High Elf Archer and Dwarf Shaman stood behind an entrenchment they had created to cover themselves with goblin fire. They protected Lizard Priest and Priestess while they did their job.

The first of the goblins to step forward had his skull cracked open by Goblin Slayer's slingshot. **"Ho! You barely have to aim around here! I like it!"** Dwarf Shaman and Goblin Slayer's fingers flashed like magic, loading one rock after another into his sling and flinging them at the goblins.

Mute ignored everyone else and set to work. With a suppressor equipped on his nine-millimeter pistol, he fired shot after shot taking out many goblins who either died quickly after being hit with lead or bleeding out. He loved it when guns sounded insanely loud. He always did. A suppressor made it sound like it shot fragile pebbles at the enemy in his head.

He only did this as to not deafen his teammates who would surely get ear damage if he kept on firing. **TSHUNG TSHUNG TSHUNG**. He stood there turning and spinning rapidly barely moving as goblins rushed. After wasting a clip, he reached for his shotgun, a SASG-12 with a suppressor and drum mag, and started firing at groups of imps heavily wounding or killing them as the pellets hit and penetrated through his targets.

With a crashing step forward, another champion raised his club high and began his assault. They had a hero with them, a champion, and that gave them the faith that they could prevail. In that respect, they were no different from people.

Priestess shivered as their hideous voices rang in her ears. She bit her lip, gripped her staff, and said as loudly as she could: **"The big one, he's coming…!"**

" **I'll handle him."** Goblin Slayer didn't hesitate. In the next instant, he snatched a dagger from the floor and put one hand down, leaping over the barrier. Mute watched Goblin Slayer's back leaping over the barrier as well as he dealt with the champion.

Mute noticed the mirror facing upwards and Lizard Priest barely managing to hold it. Suddenly he chanted something Mute was unable to discern and all of his muscles suddenly expanded gaining greater strength. The plan was almost complete.

During this time Goblin Slayer nimbly dodged and used other goblins as shields to dodge and outnumber the champion who slew his comrades on accident. The giant goblin only became furious as he did this. Goblins saw themselves as the victims of all things, and so it was everyone else's fault if the goblins fought back.

The deaths of their comrades only stoked a vengeful anger in them. He swung the weapon this way and that, determined to smash Goblin Slayer, but catching only his own allies. The unlucky monsters became Goblin Slayer's shield, sadly giving their lives in the process. **"Idiot."**

The goblin champion put an end to more of its subordinate with a smash. **"A goblin should be so lucky to have such an end."**

" **Mute, now!"** Goblin Slayer yelled removing himself from the middle of the battlefield. Mute strapped his shotgun to his chest and used both of his free hands to pull the pins on two flashbangs and threw them to the middle of the room. Everyone turned away and closed their eyes to prevent themselves from being affected as well. Once they were under the mirror, Goblin Slayer shouted: **"Falling Control—bring it down!"** Mute nodded and pressed the button on the remote detonator.

"… **That makes…"** Goblin Slayer muttered. With his right hand, he took firm hold of Priestess. Her hand was trembling gently. High Elf Archer still gripped his left hand, hard enough to hurt through his leather gauntlet. Dwarf Shaman gave him a hearty slap on the back. Even now, with his spirit drained, he was as jolly as ever.

Mute detonated the explosives. The ceiling that had been rattled by the explosion, struck by the eyeball monster, and shaken by the goblin champion's roar. The ceiling whose stones had been held up for countless ages by tree roots. But none could best time. And here, the time had a little help from mass and weight. First, a little fracture ran along the ceiling. Then, it cracked, and then a bit of it, too heavy for the roots to support, gave way.

"… **Fifty-three."** An instant later, the howling face of the goblin champion was buried beneath an avalanche of dirt and vanished.

Mute was the last to come out from the debris pushing and tossing debris out of the way. The plan he and Goblin Slayer had come up with turned out to be successful. Goblin Slayer offered his hand to which Mute gratefully accepted. **"Hey."** Goblin Slayer looked at High Elf Archer **"…What?"** She responded **"No fire, no water, no poison."** He sounded a touch impressed with himself and Mute. **"You two..."**

" **What?"** Goblin Slayer asked.

" **You're both idiots."** And she gave them a kick that sent both of the stupid men sprawling backward into the rubble.


	7. The Dark Elf

**"Land sharks."** The first one Mute saw looked like a bastardized version of a snapping turtle mixed with an armadillo. Tiny eyes and a huge gaping mouth to remove chunks of meat from whatever prey it was hunting.

He couldn't quite shoot them from a distance on account of them burrowing underground at breakneck speed. Their natural armor looked tough too. He furrowed his eyes in annoyance on having to waste flechette rounds on these creatures.

When asking a man in a nearby village (With his notebook) where the disappearances of people were occurring, one pointed to a dense forest and said: **"Folks have gone missin' 'round those parts, mister."** Mute looked to where he indicated. **"You'll help us won't you?"** He nodded and with a confident stride walked away.

He loaded the rounds into his shotgun and methodically approached the path to where people were disappearing. He cautiously trekked along the road carefully trying to feel the earth rumble underneath him.

Nothing out of the ordinary happened when first walking. When he was halfway through it, however, he heard rumbling to what he could only assume was the creatures. Under him!

Mute leaped and aimed his shotgun downwards just in time as the land shark burst from the ground mouth agape. The only thing it caught in its mouth was a mouthful of pellets. The creature writhed, its body only halfway through the ground. Blood slowly oozed from its mouth.

Mute loaded another shell as a precaution, still keeping his guard up. Suddenly two more of the creatures fully erupted from the ground and began snapping their jaws leaping at the rifleman. He nimbly dodged and weaved, but never had enough time to fire. Every time they leaped they let out weird howling noises and snorts of harsh air through their nose.

His leg was suddenly caught in the agape mouth of the land shark. Luckily for him, his armor stopped the attack from fully harming him. Unable to turn around he blind fired behind him.

The creature let out a death scream as it fell down towards the tunnel it had furrowed dragging Mute along with it. He aimed his shotgun upwards and fired as he fell. Just as he predicted a land shark tried to attack when he was rendered immobile.

The creature absorbed every single pellet on its soft underbelly killing it mid-air. Mute landed on top of the dead creature it's body absorbing the weight. How far had he fallen? He looked up and slightly squinted as the sunlight struck his visor which shielded him from the rays.

The tunnel was the opposite. Nearly pitch black down there. Good thing Mute always carried his one-eyed night vision goggle. Even during the day. He lifted his visor and put it on his right eye this time. He pushed the visor back down and began to survey his surroundings. He hadn't forgotten about the one remaining and kept his weapon raised.

Passageways dug by these abominations went everywhere anyone could look. It was dead quiet inside there. Once in a while, he came across dead bodies sprawled in weird positions. Some were picked clean, others recent. He couldn't tell what their sex or race was. Thankfully he was used to smelling viscera. Curious as to what more he could find he headed left further down the passage.

Lucky me. He thought to himself. He had found their offspring. Eggs laid about some hatched others still waiting. He squashed and crushed every single egg he could see not leaving any behind. His left boot smeared with blue goop and unfinished organs of the land sharks he had begun to make his back. One more loose end.

The land shark tore through the ground above him and erupted its jaws snapping more furiously after noticing the death of its family. Mute's helmet was caught by the snapping jaws and lifted upwards into the air.

He was being hanged by the creature. Mute wiggled and struggled in the air hitting the creature with the end of the shotgun. It did not flinch or even show any sign of getting hurt as it's natural thick armor absorbed it all. Mute let go of his shotgun and drew his tri-dagger. He rammed the tip of the blade right into the eye socket of the monster who let out a screech of pain.

It dropped Mute from its deadly mouth and retreated back above ground the blade still lodged into his eye. Mute took a moment to regain composure and reached for his shotgun. He needed that blade back.

He stood up and became warier. Knowing nothing about a creature and fighting it is a death wish. He gathered lots of info on this one fight alone and because of it, he would be a lot more prepared next time. He heard tunneling again. Underneath him. These things worked fast when it came to digging. He aimed underneath him and…

The door to the guild creaked open. Mute walked forth, his weapons strapped to him, his heavy footsteps resonating throughout the whole room. His armor scratched, dried up crimson blood randomly placed on his body. He approached one of the guild girls at the counter and placed the piece of paper on the desk which faced her way so she could read his report. Since he was incapable of speech, he always had to write down his report with every detail.

" **Thank you very much. Here is the reward."** The receptionist handed him a large bag of gold coins. Mute raised his hand halfway and casually waved it as he turned back around. He walked up to the board once more and looked through all of the quests available at this guild. He placed his hand on a particular quest that interested him. A group of highwaymen seemed to be causing trouble on a popular road not too far from here. He'd have to take a carriage.

He removed the paper from the board and walked up to the receptionist once again presenting the quest to her. She looked at the quest then back at him. **"Are you sure about this? This recommends a party of silver-ranked adventurers."** Mute nodded fiercely, fully aware as to what he chose.

" **Okay…"** The receptionist reluctantly accepted. Mute checked his equipment and surmised that this wouldn't be difficult at all. Humans were the easiest to handle because of how well he had been trained to fight them.

Monsters, however, he knew nothing about, and this lack of knowledge had gotten him almost killed. If it wasn't for that syringe and auto-injector he'd have most likely lost his life.

 _ **BOOM**_. _PLINK._ The last bandit lurched forward as the bullet tore through his armor and body. Mute heard a distant yell of pain along with the echo of his gun going off. He had successfully picked off the bandits without having to even get close to them.

The only annoying part now was to walk over there and look for anything useful they might have. The walk took him a good seven minutes. Upon arrival, he took a look around at their little base. Beds, food, water, a campfire, weapons lying about, and a gold piece here and there. Needing all the money he could find he picked up and dusted every coin he could find. With nothing else to do, he decided this was enough for today.

The festival was almost over, he was lucky to be able to get two quests in one day. Not to mention he almost had enough money to start producing his own custom weapons, ammunition, and better armor for himself. _**Well...I best be on my way**_. He thought to himself.

He went back to the guild attempting to turn in his quest. He, however, found it entirely empty. His footsteps echoed in the eerily silent building. Not a single receptionist to be found. Looks like his reward would have to wait for now. He was about to leave until his nose caught a smell. Visceral. With his pistol drawn he slowly crept up the stairs that led into one of the rooms. The door stood there slightly ajar.

He kicked it open and aimed his pistol into the room looking for someone or something. The only thing he found was the dead body of a rhea. He had no clue who this was nor did he care. Whoever had to clean this up would have a hard time. Something was wrong. He did know that.

His next objective?

Find Goblin Slayer.

Nobody seemed to be in or near the festival anymore, but he still felt like he needed to help with whatever was happening. Mute began to look for the highest building around here. As he scanned the area he realized most were short since a lot of the buildings were used to sell products or serve customers. There was one that demanded his attention.

A tower. The kinds of towers that reminded you of the one's damsels in distress would stand on, cheering as the brave and mighty hero rescued her from the dragon. That would do. He quickly made his way there and came to a locked door. He pulled his pistol out and shot it three times until it finally broke letting him inside.

Once at the top he pulled out his sniper and looked down the scope. Goblins. He looked to the left. More goblins. He took another look at his right and found his would-be party fighting off a small group of goblins. Mute watched through his sniper as his members quickly dispatched the horde attempting to plunder and raid.

Why are they so well equipped? Armor and fresh clean weapons along with some food carried by the unlucky members. It was just like back in the water town, goblins too well equipped and organized. Mute exhaled and inhaled and placed his finger on the trigger.

Goblin Slayer raised his ax upwards getting ready to split this vile goblin's skull. Instead, he heard something explode from afar. The goblin's head suddenly exploded a tiny fountain of blood erupting from the base of its neck as it swayed back and forth until falling over staining the grass.

The rest of the party turned around spotting the glint of a scope in the tower. **"Oh! Is that…"** Priestess squinted trying to more clearly see the Mute's shadowy outline.

" **Pfft! I can do that too."**

" **Now's not the time for a competition, long-ears."**

Mute somehow detecting High Elf Archers words aimed the scope at her. Something she very clearly felt. And although he couldn't hear her, he watched her mouth and read her lips: **"Don't aim that thing at me!"**

Mute smiled slightly and focused his attention on the goblins marching towards his squad. Shot after shot rang out from the tower along with body parts of goblins blasted off leaving them to bleed to death. Seeing this as a challenge the elf let loose a flurry of arrows from her bow attempting to outdo Mute in terms of goblins killed.

" **Lass! Save it for later!"** Dwarf Shaman exclaimed hacking down a goblin with two strikes.

Goblin Slayer pulled a throwing knife from his waist and with all his strength whipped at an unsuspecting goblin attempting to ambush priestess. The last one. Goblin Slayer split its skull, counting off, **"Thirty. We should link up with the others, then to reinforce the southern route."**

" **The south—that's where your farm is, isn't it?"** Dwarf Shaman asked.

" **Yes."**

The next question came from Lizard Priest.

" **Have you set traps near the farm?"**

" **No."**

" **But that's where you want to have the final confrontation?"** Dwarf Shaman seemed to doubt the soundness of this plan. **"It is where they expect to launch their attack,"** he said. **"They are wrong."** In other words. " **We will slaughter all the goblins."** That was when the first droplet descended from the heavens and onto Goblin Slayer's visor. It would be a wet battle.

After making his way back to the farm, Mute found Goblin Slayer rolling large barrels around for some unknown reason near a building. A small brick structure on the outskirts of the farm—had a chimney, smoke rose from it. he'd seen it before. Part of some plan most likely. He is the leader after all. After coming within earshot Lizard Priest spoke up loudly so his voice was above the rambunctious rain hitting the earth's surface.

" **Ah, silent one. So delighted you were able to reach us before we engage the enemy."** Mute nodded his almost ridiculously long sniper in both hands. Letting out a huff High Elf Archer stomped towards Mute and with an aggressive tone said: **"After this you and me are going to duke it out! A shooting competition! Bow and Arrow only."** Mute stood there awkwardly not sure how to respond.

What's with her competitive nature all of a sudden? In his mind, he felt like all he did was provide recon and help during their battle. **"Oh-ho! Better watch out, lad. She's serious."**

" **The direction of the wind seems good for now."** High Elf Archer grabbed a spider crawling past and coaxed some silk from it, using it to restring her yew-wood bow. She flapped her distinctive long ears and said, **"The storm is going to be right on top of us. But for now, we're upwind. Nature's on our side."**

" **All right. What about the goblins?"**

" **They're getting close. We don't have much time."**

" **I see. Let's hurry."** Goblin Slayer nodded, then turned to Dwarf Shaman. **"If you have spells to spare, try to intensify the wind. Just for good measure."**

" **Wind is the province of elves. Though I suppose I can find a bit of a gust, here…"**

" **Please do."** Dwarf Shaman responded to Goblin Slayer's request by pulling a fan out of his bag. He opened it with a snap and began to sweep at the air, chanting in a strange, high-pitched voice.

" _ **O sylphs, thou windy maidens fair, grant to me your kiss most rare—bless our ship with breezes fair."**_ Amid the howling of the storm, a softer current began to tickle their cheeks.

It was a simple spell for calling the wind, of the kind a mage might use when putting on a show for pocket change.

" **That's about as strong as she gets."** Dwarf Shaman said. **"Don't know how much good it will do you."**

" **Can't you dwarves do anything right?"** High Elf Archer chortled. **"Enough banter."** Goblin Slayer used the hilt of his sword to pry open the lid of one of the barrels. It came off with a screech, and a raw stench mingled with the smell of the rain.

Waiting for the battle to commence Mute drowned out all the noise around him. It was something he always did when preparing for battle. It put him at ease no matter the circumstance. Death could be glaring, staring right into his eyes and he'd have no real reaction except being at peace. Using a stained rag he carried in one of his pants pocket he started to dry off all of his soaked weapons to make sure they didn't jam.

Even though they were built with the idea of being very resistant to most weather conditions, he still took it upon himself to clean them regularly to make sure they stayed in prime condition for as long as possible. Mute unfastened his backpack and within one of the zippers reached into his bag and pulled out a black Russian SMS Gas Mask.

Dwarf Shaman watched as he undid the straps on his helmet and slowly removed it. He finally got a look at the man who'd only shown his eyes thus far. A very thin buzzcut showing signs of it starting to grow. An entirely oval, shaven face and hair, with grim worn features. Dwarf Shaman couldn't figure out what his hair color was.

Without letting anyone else see his features he swiftly put on his gas mask making sure everything was sealed tight. He then reached for the filter also in his bag and began to install it onto the mask. **"Wha?!"** High Elf Archer yelled rising up to her feet and pointed at Mute.

" **No fair! I didn't even get to see!"** Dwarf shaman let out a boisterous laugh. **"So much for elves and the supposed knowledge of their surroundings."**

" **Keep talking, dwarf! Like you would've ever seen it if he didn't do it right in front you!"** And they were arguing again. It was their usual friendly banter.

Lizard Priest, who had returned from arming his Dragontooth Warriors with hoes and sickles, rolled his eyes merrily.

" **I must admit I did not witness it transpire myself."** The dwarf let out a small **"heh"** and turned to look at Mute. **"Our little secret, lad."** Mute nodded. He didn't care at all.

" **And what exactly are you planning, milord Goblin Slayer?"** His tone suggested this was what interested him most.

Goblin Slayer answered as he prepared his own equipment, making sure his shield was cinched down. **"It should be obvious. A basic goblin-slaying tactic."**

He straightened his helmet and pulled the dagger he had stolen from a goblin out of a sheath at his hip. He took a dirty rag from his pouch, carefully cleaning the blade. He returned it to its sheath, then chose another blade with his right hand.

His dirty leather armor, his worthless-looking helmet, his sword that was neither long nor short, and the round shield on his arm. With his unchanging appearance, in his unchanging tone, he declared simply: **"We're going to smoke them out."** Goblins were approaching—twenty or thirty, perhaps. The smokehouse belched thick, black fumes into the storm.

 **TSHUNG TSHUNG TSHUNG.**

Mute ran into the smoke firing his silenced pistol killing three goblins blinded by Goblin Slayer's poison gas. Lizard Priest's skeleton warriors set to work as well laying into the goblins. They were only bones, lacking eyes, noses, and any need to breathe. The rotting fish smog had no ill effect on them.

Priestess looked up at the battlefield as if she had sensed something. Her eyes went wide. **"Oh…!"** She trembled mightily as she called out, then leaped in front of the rest of the party. Before anyone could stop her, she raised first her flail, and then her voice. _ **"O Earth Mother, abounding in mercy, by the power of the land, grant safety to we who are weak!"**_

She implored the gods for a miracle. The all-compassionate Earth Mother bestowed her with an invisible barrier, centered around the staff she held in the air.

At that instant, the words of an ancient tongue rang out across the battlefield.

" **Omnis…nodos…libero!"** _I unbind all that is bound!_

An exploding light blinded them. A sheath of whiteness cut through the dark rain and enveloped everything. It pierced the battlefield, cleared away the smoke, and shattered the Dragontooth Warriors. Mute stood there where the smoke once was. He stood stiff unsure of his next move.

The light pulsed across the battlefield again, catching several goblins and turning them to dust. Mute tumbled backward and rolled along the grass a couple of times before using both his hands to stop. Great. Now there was mud all over them. What asshole did this? Not to mention losing his handgun.

Surviving goblins who were not affected by the spell lunged at the adventurer, surrounding him. He unsheathed his tri-dagger and spun slicing the bellies of two gobs. The third got lucky and managed to strike. It smiled evilly as it's hammer struck down on his helm.

Mute grabbed him by his neck and began to choke the goblin, totally unaffected by the blow he just endured. From behind him, he heard his comrades fighting. The goblin kicked and attempted to scream but to no avail.

After a minute or two of gasping for air, his kicks became weaker until finally, the goblin passed out from lack of oxygen. Mute then pierced his tri-dagger through its skull.

Goblins routed, dropping their weapons and running as fast as their legs would carry them in every direction. As if they would get far. **"Gnomes! Undines! Make for me the finest cushion you will see!"**

Mute watched as the goblins were ensnared. The earth held their feet fast, and they flopped to the ground one by one. Sticky mud bubbled up around them. They struggled and fought but discovered they couldn't get up.

Lizard Priest made his way relentlessly around the summoned swamp, doing his deadly work. Claw, claw, fang, tail. He danced among the goblins, sweeping them away with every limb. **"Ho! Forefathers of mine, who are part of my very being! Accept this rampage!"**

A flash of silver light ensnared Mute's attention. He looked over to his left, finding Goblin Slayer in battle with what appeared to be a dark elf. **"I had heard that some in this town had reached the rank of Silver… But I cannot imagine such an experienced adventurer would stoop to using a goblin's club."**

" **Are you their leader?"**

Goblin Slayer replied with his own question. Indifferently. Just as always.

" **Indeed I am."** Dark Elf returned, feeling a touch annoyed. His chest puffed out, and the corners of his mouth turned up slightly. **"I am the apostle of anarchy, recipient of a handout from the very gods of chaos themselves!"**

" **And my goblin army approaches from every direction! The next life will soon welcome you and your—"**

" **I don't know what you are. And I don't care." Goblin Slayer interrupted the elf's proclamation. "…That goblin lord was more trouble than you."** There was a pause as Dark Elf processed what had been said. **"Wh-why, you insolent…! Very well. See for yourself if** _ **we**_ **are less than a goblin!"**

" **O lord of this great limb, prince of the hurricane! Set the winds blowing! Summon the storm! Grant me power!"** Something changed at that moment. An uncanny crackling sound came from Dark Elf's body. It twisted and swelled. Then, one after another, they burst from his back. Arms.

Deformed and bizarre, bones connected in the wrong places, bulging with muscles.

Five of them in all—seven, including the arms he had been born with.

"… **Hrm."**

" **Heh, heh-heh, heh. I see you cannot even speak, you accursed adventurer!"**

The grasping appendages, like a spider's or crab's, were visible even from across the battlefield. He was no longer truly a dark elf. His eyes were wild and bloodshot, his voice high, straining against the limits of all his senses and abilities.

 **BOOM.** _PLINK._ Mute fired his sniper rifle intending to kill the Dark Elf while it gloated over his new form.

"… **!"**

The bullet almost hit him. The instant before it landed, a vast white hand suddenly appeared and snatched the round from the air. Mute furrowed his eyebrows annoyed that an enemy had such an ability. It seemed that spellcasters would be his weakness. If only he still had explosives…

Dark Elf smirked and held the cursed artifact in his left hand aloft. No one would lead from the front lines without some kind of protection. **"He can deflect projectiles…?!"** High Elf Archer wailed, shuddering in terror.

Mute settled his backpack and sniper on the floor. He reached for his Tri-dagger knowing full well that only melee would work on the dark elf. He rushed to Goblin Slayer's side standing next to him preparing to take him on. After all the villain did have seven hands. He and Goblin Slayer made four.

Goblin Slayer had tossed aside his club and drawn his sword. The strange-length sword was covered in a film of dirt, perhaps from fighting in the mud. But Goblin Slayer took a deep stance and rotated his wrist once. **"Do you imagine a change of weapons will allow you to prevail against me?"**

" **No."** Goblin Slayer steadied his breathing, pointed the tip of his sword at the enemy, and spoke in a low voice. **"I imagine it'll let me kill you."**

" **Spare me your idiocy!"**

As he bellowed, Dark Elf's arms stretched unnaturally, reaching out toward Goblin Slayer. The human warrior dove forward, taking advantage of the slightest of gaps.

In his right hand, Dark Elf held that nimble sword. It was a good weapon, but its owner's reflexes made it truly dangerous. **"A suicidal charge? You'll never reach me."**

Goblin Slayer just managed to deflect the whistling flash of silver with his shield. The piece of round leather had already sustained several cuts and piercings and was reaching a point when it would no longer be of much use. But Goblin Slayer paid this no mind, closing the distance with his sword at the ready.

Dark Elf jumped backward and prepared to thrust again. Goblin Slayer followed, reaching out with the tip of his blade. The enemy's chest armor cracked ever so slightly with a ringing echo. But that was all.

" **Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! It seems your trusty arm isn't strong enough!"**

Goblin Slayer simply didn't have the power to strike the elf himself.

The enemy landed on the ground, splattering mud everywhere, and declared in triumph: **"I have taken your measure! You are no better than Ruby, the fifth rank. Or even Emerald, the sixth!"**

" **Who…?!"**

In complete ignorance, the dark elf failed to notice Mute who had also charged in Tri-dagger in hand. He thrust the blade near the same region the leathered armor knight had previously pierced through the metal. But not hitting the elf himself.

" **A valiant effort. Unfortunately…"** Dark Elf held him up in the air with all six of his arms. The seventh one lunged forward and created a hole in Mute's chest, sending bone, blood, and guts all over the walls. In shock, he clutched at the grip of the large dagger. **"Lad!"** Dwarf Shaman bellowed. The elf discarded Mute like garbage letting him and dropped him to the ground.

He made a good distraction.

" _ **O Earth Mother, abounding in mercy, grant your sacred light to we who are lost in darkness!"**_ Uttering a soundless scream, Dark Elf retreated when a light as bright as the sun pierced the storm. His eyes, accustomed to the night and the darkened rain, burned as if exposed to daylight.

Without a moment's doubt or hesitation. Though trembling and afraid, still she raised her flail. **"Goblin Slayer, sir!"** His sword worked, though he did not shout or bellow. He raised the weapon, advanced, took aim, let it fall, and cut his foe. It was a completely normal, totally unremarkable attack.

" **Hrr—gah!"**

But an attack it was. Dark Elf's chest armor shattered; gore spraying. It wasn't much. But the blow had struck home, and that was enough.

He then raised the dagger in the air. Poisoned. It was too late for him. His last moments would be spent watching his team fight the Dark Elf. He panted, fighting the poison coursing through him. He looked like one about to die, and yet more terrible than before. **"Omnis…!"** He bellowed out the words of true power, a last-ditch death spell if there ever was one.

" **That won't work."** Goblin Slayer declared in a low-pitched tone. Dark Elf's left arm went flying. Nobody—including Dark Elf himself—realized it had happened until blood began gushing from the stump. The storm picked up the spurting blood and scattered it like rain. The noise of the arm landing in the bushes could be heard.

The strange, bent throwing knife had cut through the air, and then through Dark Elf's flesh and bone. The windmill-shaped blade. Dark Elf had no way of knowing it was a Southern-style throwing knife.

"— **?! Gaaahhh!"**

" **Y-you… It was you…"** _Bile rose in the blood in Dark Elf's mouth._ **"In the water town… The hero who…thwarted…our ambitions…!"** He should have seen it sooner.

Their revenge on that accursed Sword Maiden, the Demon Lord's revival, and the ritual to summon a storm of chaos. It was adventurers who had put an end to it all.

This man. This man was one of them, he was sure. Dark Elf glared at that steel helmet with thoughts as bloody as his lips.

"… **No."**

He answered dispassionately.

" **I'm…"**

Without a flicker of hesitation, he declared himself.

"… **Goblin Slayer."**

" **Orcbolg!"** High Elf Archer cried in desperation. Her voice reaching everyone's ears.

Mute lay against a tree blood-drenched all around his neck. **"H-he's dying!"** She Slayer turned his head and casually walked up to Mute. A familiar syringe in his hand.

Mute smiled weakly underneath his helm as the effects took place replacing his body along with the body armor that had been destroyed by the Dark Elf. Mute looked at High Elf Archer who still had her face close to his.

She recoiled back and crossed her arms. **"You elves always trying to hide your emotions…"** Dwarf Shaman stroked his beard with one of his eyes half closed a grin on his face.

" **Grr… you-"** Mute silenced his party mentally once more as he did not want to hear the dwarf and elf bicker.

Looking down at himself, he just realized he had almost died just a minute ago. He owed his life to advanced tech, more than he could possibly repay. Something he wasn't sure how he was going to do. But he also needed to thank someone else.

Mute walked up to Goblin Slayer and took a knee his head bowed, fist on the ground as if he was honoring royalty. His way of showing immense gratitude. The knight covered in grime, dirt, and blood didn't know how to react and simply stared.

The rest of the party looked on in awe of the sudden display. Mute owed Goblin Slayer his life, he would help him with whatever he needed from now on. Whether he wanted it or not.

 _ **This is the last chapter until a new light novel comes out for this, so don't expect anything else for awhile. In the meantime, I'll start a new story somewhere else with Mute in it as well, to sate my boredom. Check it out. Or don't.**_


	8. Just Some Filler

Like a panther then?

Mute was studying the drawing a kid had sketched. A village had been attacked by some sort of great cat, however, unlike most cats, however, this thing apparently had six legs in total and two tentacles that sprouted on the back, which ended with pads tipped in spikes. At least, that's what he could make from the artwork. This kid wasn't exactly a Picasso or Bob Ross as indicated by the proportional legs on this animal. But hey, as Bob Ross would say: **"We don't make mistakes, we just have happy accidents."**

Oh, how he could imagine that him sitting on a stool and painting right now.

After finishing his inspection he gave it back to the little girl who seemed really nervous around this silent man. **"Well… you really think you can handle it?"** A woman asked as her daughter, the little girl, hid behind her.

Mute confidently nodded and exited the small little hut. He was immediately greeted by the sight of two men carrying a casket. Presumably, it was the man the only person in this village who had died in the attack. From what Mute noticed, the creature only seemed to be after food than a person. But then again, maybe people is what it ate.

Regardless, he had to kill it. So, he went on his way. The attack had happened about an hour or two ago, and the creature would most likely still be somewhere around the area. And if Mute couldn't find it, then he'd simply wait in that same village waiting for it to strike again.

Mute half-smiled as he drew his new heavy revolver weapon. It had taken him a while, three days to be precise, to gather materials and make this thing to his exact specifications. It was intended for a big game hunter. One to two shots should kill any wild animal.

He left the village to mourn the passing of that man and continued to make his way to a forest which unlike the others didn't actually have a path created by anyone. That alone was warning enough to know just how dangerous it really was.

Hmm…

Mute jumped and hugged the first tree of the forest. He then began to scale it at an impressive speed that would make monkeys jealous. Once at the top he looked ahead of himself.

That is one dense forest. He couldn't even see where it ended on the other side, his entire view was blocked by other insanely tall trees. Now that he took a closer look, it was more of a mix of jungle and forest than anything.

" **WHAT ARE YOU DOING UP THERE?!"** A high pitched voice suddenly asked. Mute became startled, though not in a frightened way, and drew his shotgun instinctively towards the direction of the voice which was underneath him. Unfortunately for him, he took a step back into nothing but air and immediately began to fall.

His quick reflexes forced him to reach out for something to hold, he managed to catch a thankfully sturdy branch that stopped him his fall.

High Elf Archer began to snicker and laugh at the man, finding this scenario funny. Mute held the smallest sliver of contempt for this barely functioning adult elf. He masterfully strapped his shotgun with one hand back to his waist where the spine met his hips.

Through her giggles, the woman managed to say: **"Sorry about that, didn't mean to scare you."** Mute let go of the branch and landed on his two feet. He said nothing and looked at High Elf Archer.

" **I heard you went hunting after a beast that attacked a remote village."** She walked up to the man smiled brightly. **"Let me help!"** She offered her hand, looking for a handshake from the man. Mute simply stared at her for a moment and nodded. He then harshly shook her hand as if trying to tear her arm off from her.

After he turned around she painfully closed her hands and began to shake off the pain Mute had caused. For some reason, she felt it was payback for making him fall off the tree.

High Elf Archer raised an eyebrow as she watched Mute cautiously and methodically made his way through the forest. It was almost comical in a way. He made no sound as he crouched through shrubs and hid behind trees, ever so slowly making his way.

" **How about you let me do the tracking?"** High Elf Archer got in front of Mute and started to casually walk ahead at a much faster rate, much to Mute's annoyance. He quickly caught up to her and stayed close behind.

He had nearly bumped in the high elf when she came to a sudden stop. She took a knee and inspected something from the ground. Mute had no idea what it was. The best he could do to describe it was that it looked like a regular old gray rock, but it had some strange fluid on it. As he inched closer to look at it, he realized it was dried blood.

High Elf Archer looked to the northeast and started heading that way. Her demeanor had entirely changed as she nearly mimicked what Mute had been doing earlier. As they inched ever closer to their destination, a foul smell began to creep up to them until soon it was very apparent something had died. And most likely wet themselves.

She motioned for Mute to stop as she pointed to a small cave ahead of them. Half decomposed bodies of Goblins lay not too far away from it. What was once a den of goblins had turned to a home for the creature and its family. The mother was currently busy tending to the smaller ones, which seemed to be ignoring her as she fed them something. Probably left over goblin. Or maybe meat from the man the mother had killed.

Perfect.

High Elf Archer slowly raised her bow and drew an arrow. It was dead silent until the sound of her arrow cutting through the wind drew the mother's attention. As she looked in the general direction of the source of the sound, an arrow came flying right at her head and struck the beast's forehead.

Or so the high elf thought. Mute almost instantly realized what had happened and reacted fast enough. He grabbed the elf's shirt and yanked her away just in time to be spared from two of the tentacles protruding from the animal.

Mute looked to his left and, just as he expected, found the animal missing. **"How?!"** High Elf Archer took notice as well to the missing mother of those cubs. The silent man quickdraw his heavy revolver and fired a round at the creature only for it to go right through it again.

Mute clicked his tongue in annoyance then sharply whipped around and fired his revolver again, though he had missed his mark, the round he nearly struck the creature who let out a growl.

Mute decided it would be better to jump in a clearing and face this thing where they could better spot it. His revolver would be useless for a creature specializing in escaping. But because its children were present, her instincts told her to stay and fight.

And that would be what will end up getting her killed. Mute and High Elf Archer watched each other's backs. The panther-like beast had disappeared, no doubt planning another sneak attack. It stayed unnervingly silent as the two people kept a constant guard, waiting for something.

The creature finally attacked, from above. High Elf Archer reacted quickly and aimed her bow at her and let her arrow loose. It went right through the creature.

She looked to her left and in slow motion watched as Mute pulled the trigger on his revolver in her direction, the creature had decided it would eliminate High Elf Archer first. Though the only thing it met was a quick death at the hands of Mute who had landed a precise shot on its forehead.

The creature went limp midair and flopped right next to High Elf Archer who still seemed to be processing what had happened.

Sound. The fakes made no sound. The real thing did. That's how Mute knew. Mute then approached the cubs. He pulled out his 9mm pistol and only used up two bullets.

Now he needed his proof.

He pulled out what looked like a very sharp ax. He took a knee and raised his left hand in the air. He then brought it down. It only took one strong swing to completely decapitate the beast.

Some folks in previous villages didn't believe that he had done his jobs. As such, he found himself going back and finding irrefutable proof that he had indeed done the deed. So just in case, he always made sure to bring something for the villagers to see.

High Elf Archer made a disgusted face as he took some sort of sturdy string and pierced the head with it, hanging it around his waist.

…..

" **It was gross!** " Dwarf Shaman let out a laugh at the elf's misfortune. Mute was currently by the receptionist turning in his quest. High Elf Archer swore she was about to puke. The blood of the beast she killed was still on her, it was going to be a bitch trying to get rid of those dried up stains. Unlike Goblin Slayer and Mute, she cared about the things she wore, never letting it become too dirty.

" **I'm convinced you can see these kinds of circumstances occurring when traveling with Mute and milord Goblin Slayer."** Lizard Priest said as he eyed the plate in front of him. He never grew tired of the delectable food that is cheese.

The dwarf took a swig of his wine and let out a sigh indicating how refreshing his beverage was. **"I think I'll need another."** As he waved over the bartender to hand him another, the bells above the door went off. _He_ had arrived.

Goblin Slayer, stained in a similar manner to that of Mute, had finished his quest as well. The silent man stepped aside to make room for Goblin Slayer without even turning back to look.

The merciless goblin killer suddenly stopped what he was doing and turned to look at his party, earning a curious look from them all. He then somewhat awkwardly did a half-wave, acknowledging their presence.

" **Oh-ho! I think he's gotten used to us!"** Dwarf Shaman thanked the bartender as he filled the chubby man's mug.

Guild Girl happily focused her attention to Goblin Slayer, going through the usual exchange with one another about the details of his job. Mute finished up with the other receptionist attending to him and received the gold coins from her.

High Elf Archer looked surprised as he suddenly came up to her and dropped a bag that contained her fifty percent of the reward. Though Mute planned to go alone in the hunt she made it a lot easier to track the creature, he only thought it was fair.

Before she could say anything he had walked off back to the board, containing all of the available quests. He silently stood there for a minute or two. He yanked three slips of sheepskin paper and started to make his way back to the receptionist. Goblin Slayer, still talking to Guild Girl, focused his attention on Mute who showed him the three slips. Goblin Slayer looked it over and nodded his head ever so slightly.

" **These three for the two of us."** He showed it to Guild Girl who could only respond with her usual fake smile as she assigned the quest to the two grimy, dirtied, young men.

" **There they go again…"** She mumbled to herself as she watched them leave the building.

High Elf Archer frowned as she watched them leave. **"They didn't even invite us."** Dwarf Shaman nearly inhaled his mug as he rapidly consumed what remained of his drink, his cheeks turning red soon after. Lizard Priest finished what remained of his cheese, neither of them seemed to care.

…..

A hobgoblin died instantly as Goblin Slayer drove his dagger right through the soft spot atop of its head. He didn't bother retrieving the weapon, instead, he looted the dead goblin and it's primitive weapon. It was the usual song and dance. This was the third and final quest. Things always went faster than normal when Goblin Slayer went hunting for those putrid green creatures with Mute at his side, they made quite a deadly team when paired up.

The grimy knight pointed down a dark tunnel in the cave. Mute automatically knew what he wanted, he activated the night vision on his helmet and drew his AS Val. Another weapon he had recently made using the spare parts and new material from previous weapons. He masterfully dispatched every goblin who thought they were safe in the dark. Every shot that went off was followed by the sound of a goblin's body hitting the floor along with panic and confusion from his comrades.

Mute had promised Goblin Slayer a smaller yet still just as effective version of night vision for him. It was almost done, he just needed to gather and buy more materials.

" **That's twelve in total."** Goblin Slayer sheathed his weapon and started to make his way back towards the entrance of the cave. It was time to turn this into the guild and receive their reward.

…..

" **Have a nice day!"** Guild Girl told a party of four as they exited a building, no doubt going on an adventure. Goblin Slayer waited for them to pass by him as they exited. **"Any goblin slaying quests available?"** Not a minute went by that he didn't think about goblins or something relating to them. **"Right here!"** She cheerfully said as she handed him a couple slips of quests.

Guild Girl suddenly remembered something. **"Mute wanted to give this to you. I don't know what it is…"** Guild Girl reached for something, revealing a strange small black spherical object with a lens at the end. **"Night vision."** The anti-goblin man reached out for it and took it from Guild Girl. If he did that to anyone else they would've considered it rude, but not to this receptionist.

" **So you can see in the dark, yes?"** Lizard Priest had somehow snuck up behind Goblin Slayer. The grimy knight nodded his head. **"I'm sure that will make cave scouring a lot easier."** A short man suddenly lets out a loud yawn as he exited the room stretching his arms towards the sky and patting himself on the back. **"Do you have to be so obnoxious?"** The dwarf had just barely woken up. He was in no mood to start an argument. At least, for now. **"You always get up so early, scaly."** The shaman descended the stairs. **"It was once apart of my timetable back with my brethren, it has become a habit at this point. I cannot help it."**

" **Yeah, I could never do that."** High Elf Archer claimed. She then sniffed the air and caught a strange aroma. **"You smell that?"** She asked no one in particular. Dwarf Shaman looked at her for a brief moment and breathed in through his nose catching the aroma as well.

" **I think it's coming from outside."** The elf walked past the still somewhat sleepy dwarf and down the stairs. She opened the door and found Guild Girl scrambling and Goblin Slayer doing what seemed to be damage control.

" **I'm sorry! I didn't mean to! It was an accident."** She kept on saying as the grimy knight picked up what looked like a smoke bomb that had prematurely gone off. He sharped reeled back and with all his strength he chucked it far away so it wouldn't bother others near them. **"These things happen."** He looked at her as he picked up the remainder of his tools from a cart he had dragged over here.

" **You're about to make the lass cry, Beard-Cutter."** Dwarf Shaman teased the man as he placed some strange objects into a much larger pouch. Lizard Priest was the first to realize that the items appear very similar to the ones usually being carried by Mute.

" **Are those, by any chance, items created by Mute himself?"** The lizard wagged his tail in curiosity as Goblin Slayer still kept on organizing. He didn't answer until he had finished placing everything atop of a nearby barrel, it's heavyweight apparent as it let off a thunk as he let it drop.

" **Yes."** He simply said. Almost everyone there gave him a look of annoyance for making them wait for an answer only to be given an irritating 'yes'.

" **I think they want a little more info than that…"** Cow Girl sweat dropped and closed her eyes in an apologetic way. **"It's an exact replica of a weapon. An 'AS Val' as** _ **he**_ **wrote down. Fires nine by thirty-nine-millimeter rounds designed to pierce armor. Equipped with an integrated suppressor it can stay relatively quiet unlike the rest of the weapons he currently has."** Everyone just stared at him.

" **Perfect for goblin hunting."** His left eye glowed a bright red, earning a worried look from Cow Girl and his party. It was then that the man who gifted him such a powerful weapon appeared from behind a corner reeking from an odor that most adventurers knew very well.

" **Ugh…"** Cow Girl couldn't help but pinch her nose, though the other adventurers knew it was an unpleasant smell, they had been covered in the same substance and thus it didn't affect them as much as it first did.

Mute didn't seem to care about her uncomfortableness as he got even closer to them and looked at the bag Goblin Slayer was about to carry inside to the guild. **"Don't worry, I will assemble it inside behind closed doors."**

Everyone gave the two an intrigued and perplexed look as the two almost telepathically communicated. Mute nodded and started to make his way to the guild, no doubt about to make his report.

…..

" **It looks like all your hard work has finally paid off!"** Inspector happily took the sheet of sheepskin paper and stored it in one of the cabinets. Though it was usually Guild Girl's job to handle it, she was busy with something else across space. Mute tilted his head in confusion in the usual dog-like manner which caused her to giggle. **"You've gained the trust of plenty of people, adventurers who bring proof indicating they completed their valorous deed are trusted even more. And as such…"** She then reached for a small box containing something.

A necklace. **"You're officially a silver-ranked adventurer!"** She claimed as she handed him the chain carrying the familiar silver tag. **"There's no need for an interview."** The silent man nodded in understanding.

" **It didn't take you that long either!"** Priestess' voice rang throughout Mute's ears. He turned to look at the religious girl for a brief moment. He hadn't seen her in… what was it? Two days? He didn't know.

" **Silver rank already? ...I heard he doesn't even eat or sleep."** One adventurer mumbled under his breath. This rude comment sparked something in another random adventurer. **"Come to think of it…"** He stared at Mute. **"Has anyone ever seen him go to use the bathroom?"**

" **Say what you will about that guy, but I heard he's got girls from all kinds of villages swooning over him."** A man in a hood took a sip from his mug.

" **You sure you're not mistaking that with Goblin Slayer?"** His buddy asked him.

" **Uh… actually, I think that can be applied to both of them."** The other man snickered at his friend's correction.

" **Regardless…"** A man they didn't know suddenly spoke up. **"Women is the last thing they have on their minds."** He then let off a dark smile. **"I bet the only thing that creates a pillar between their legs is some good ol' fashioned killing."**

Developing a dark sense of humor is something commonly found on adventurers. Leading lives as more professional hired mercenaries would do that to you. You'd see more dead bodies than the average person in their entire lifetime, though that was obvious.

Priestess tried her hardest to not focus her attention on the conversation those adventurers were having and instead focused on Mute who sat across from her. It suddenly hit her that she had never actually talked to the man one and one. She found it difficult to maintain her composure under the man's gaze. Though, he wasn't trying to unnerve her it was just in his nature.

" **So… um…"** Guild Girl and The Inspector watched in awe as this small girl tried to initiate conversation with the mute ceased his thoughts and then directly looked at the girl. She suddenly lost the courage to speak. This was more difficult than she thought.

" **There they are!"** High Elf Archer yelled as she pointed towards Mute and Priestess. Guild Girl and The Inspector looked disappointed once they realized that the two who were just about to talk one on one wouldn't anymore.

" **I think you just interrupted something, lass."** Dwarf Shaman gave a knowing smile to what he thought was happening between Mute and Priestess, though the young religious girl didn't get it at first.

" **Hm? ...Oh!"** High Elf Archer got an image in her head. **"Never mind us! We'll be on our way!"** She added on. Priestess became a sudden hot tomato red as she finally caught on.

" **NO! IT'S NOT LIKE THAT!"** She suddenly erupted, a reaction that caught, even Goblin Slayer off-guard. **"I mean…! I'm not saying you're bad or anything! It's just that- I was trying too- please don't look at me like that…"**

She was referring to Mute who had his head tilted during that whole inner conflict the young woman had. **"Don't be embarrassed. You found a partner faster than this elf ever could in two-thousand years!"** High Elf Archer suddenly became furious.

" **Huh?! What are you trying to say, tubby?!"** She was looking down at the barrel-shaped man who only let out laughter to her response. **"Don't get angry at me. It's not my fault you repel men with your short-temper."** High Elf Archer let out fumes and steam from her nose and ears. Lizard Priest, of course, intervened as usual and managed to calm down his **"Always irascible"** companions.

" **I thought we were going on a quest."** Goblin Slayer spoke up, causing everyone to turn their heads to look at him. **"Ah, how could I forget?"** The lizardman walked up to Guild Girl.

" **About the quest we reserved yesterday. The goblin slaying."** He inquired. Guild Girl let out a small **"Oh!"** and reached into a drawer. **"Here it is."** She handed him the quest. **"Orcbolg is going to have a field day with that one…"** The high elf watched as he looked it over. As soon as he finished reading he stored it back in his pouch and said:

" **I need to get some equipment."**


	9. The Past

What do they call this again? Grinding? At least that's what _he_ said. Reaching silver rank would be a lot harder if I partnered up with Goblin Slayer. Sharing "experience points" would make it a lot harder to hit _that_ goal.

Mute stared down at the large dead wolf and the goblin he had struck down not so long ago. He wasn't one to waste ammo. As such, he had acquired a small shield similar to that of Goblin Slayer's and the deadly tri-dagger he kept with him.

Why would he waste powerful weapons against creatures like goblins or wolfs or anything that didn't need powerful weapons? He remembered back to when he first sprayed down a group of goblins. A misuse of weapons for sure.

He looked at himself and at the large backpack tightly strapped to him and his deadly modern weapons. The dead silence inside of the abandoned ruins caused Mute's ears to start ringing. It was instantly gone as soon as he started to make his way out of the ruins. His footsteps echoed loudly, though he wasn't scared anyone would notice since, well…

He killed everyone again.

As that same thought repeated itself through his head, the etchings and strange drawings along with the old decaying decorations coupled with the aggressive damp moss was admired by a thoughtful Mute.

" **Grrboraaa…"** Mute slowed down his brisk pace and sharply turned his head. The source of the noise? A heavily injured goblin slowly dying. What a pitiful creature. It'd take a few more minutes for the thing to pass away.

Mute drew his tri-dagger and stepped in front of the goblin leaning against a pillar stained with the blood of his comrades. He then recalled everything he had seen and heard goblins had done.

The pillaging. The kidnapping. The brutality. The Filth. The greed.

They were all the same in his eyes.

 _He_ had a point.

Mute let his arm fall to his side. He briskly turned around and sheathed his dagger.

…..

" **There he goes again…"** High Elf Archer observed as the silent man accepted another quest. **"It's been literally three days since he first started. You think he'll ever stop?"** She looked at Dwarf Shaman who was busily knitting some gems to some sort of small pouch.

" **Hm? Sorry, lass. I wasn't paying attention."** He continued his knitting but it became a lot slower. She had his attention.

" **I believe she wants to inquire into Mute's affairs."** The elf shot the lizard man a glare and said:

" **Hey! You're making me sound obsessed!"**

He touched the tips of his sharp fingernails and simply said: **"Apologies."**

She let out a frustrated sigh.

" **Still haven't figured him out, eh?"** The dwarf looked up at the archer. She didn't respond to his question.

" **Leave the man alone. Think of him like Beardcutter."**

Her ears perked up at Orcbolg's name.

" **He'll start opening up to us sooner or later. Don't be pushy."** Lizard Priest nodded in agreement, he added:

" **Perhaps one day he'll tell us who those other members of his party were."**

 _ **Maybe…**_

…..

" **Your friend is here!"** Cow Girl yelled out of a window as Mute walked up to the house. Goblin Slayer emerged from what looked like a smaller home. A place for Goblin Slayer's weapons or other materials from the other people who lived in that home as well.

Without exchanging any pleasantries the two men looked at one another. Mute undid the knot and dropped the smaller bag once tied to his backpack.

" **Good."** Was all the man in the worn armor said before he picked up the bag and carried it back to where he had emerged. Mute turned back around and set about to continue his goal to reach silver rank.

" **Who's out there?"** The uncle asked his niece as he put away washed eating utensils in a cupboard. **"It's just** _ **his**_ **friend!"** She said loudly not turning his back to him as she waved goodbye to Mute who, in what was barely an effort, returned it.

She was curious.

Making her way towards a busy Goblin Slayer, she slowly peered inside of his small workshop and watched as he carefully and gently placed instructions and the pieces of what she assumed was a weapon.

" **Need something?"** He asked as he read over the blueprints.

" **What is that?"** He then turned his head to the pieces. **"They're-"** He silenced himself suddenly as if thinking or recalling something in his head. He then turned to face Cow Girl.

She realized who he was looking at. **"Is it a secret?"** She leaned against a thin support beam with her right arm and let out a sincere smile. **"It is."** He replied. **"Okay!"** She almost jumped. **"I promise to not say anything."**

Goblin Slayer stood there, awkward as always. With a bow, he said:

" **Thank you."**

…..

A break from the slaughtering of bandits, goblins, and any other creature out available to be killed for a reward would be good right about now. This crew of his…

Goblin Slayer…

Priestess…

High Elf Archer…

Lizard Priest…

And Dwarf Shaman…

They saw his tech, they saw what he could do with such things. Powerful, especially in this world of fantasy he had come into somehow. He couldn't trust them. Especially the representatives sent by the king. If he had ever found out they had squealed. Well…

Mute played with his tri-dagger.

He had lied.

About everything.

Everything but his name and serial number.

Here's his-

Actually… that can wait.

But HERE is a Truth. His "squad" were people he had actually murdered. His superiors. He was on the run right now.

On the day his life had been saved by Goblin Slayer's party he had buried the bodies underneath the recently slaughtered village. He wasn't actually there when it was attacked.

But he had made the mistake of staying longer than he should've. But he knew better know thanks to all of the knowledge Goblin Slayer had been so kind to share with him about goblins.

The small brutal monsters had come back. A surplus of them. He couldn't count how many, but it was enough to almost take him down if it wasn't for _them_.

The next day he had come back to the same village and dug up the bodies buried along with the weapons and tech foreign to this world. He needed powerful sorcerers or witches or anything powerful enough to use magic capable of helping him with _that_.

He sighed. Or at least, tried to.

Another bandit fell victim to Mute's foreign weapons.

It would only be a matter of time before someone took notice of this. But…

He reloaded his shotgun and cocked it.

That was his intent.

…..

" **Some bigger fish, huh?"** One adventurer commented on his friend's quest. His buddy nodded. **"Yeah, I've gone up twice now. Killing the same monsters while at this level is no good. It'd take forever to reach silver. Just look at Goblin Slayer."**

The other man did just that. **"I guess you're right. What a grind that must've been."**

Mute was right. He took a sip from his mug. Not alcohol though. He didn't hate it. It's just that it'd interfere with the rules set upon him by his-

He suddenly realized something. He let out a silent small chuckle.

No one could restrict him anymore. He felt like an adult that had just moved out of his parent's house.

Mute waved over the waitress. An action she had gotten used to. Being unable to speak she caught on to his mannerism very quickly.

" **I'll get the water and-"** The silent man shook his head quickly and instead pointed to a nearby customer who had a bottle of alcohol on his table. He took notice of this and looked completely confused as to why this adventurer was randomly pointing to him.

" **Oh. Of course!"** She thought nothing of this. Until he became a public spectacle to everyone who had come near. Mute was chugging down alcohol, funnily enough, random men handed him bottles of powerful drinks every time he finished another. He was on his fourth.

They all yelled and chanted in near perfect unison for him to keep going, never letting up to make sure he went as far as he could before reaching his limit. He reached for another bottle but clumsily missed at first but then took hold of it.

" **Ah! He's starting to feel it!"** The man yelled as he kept on looking in awe.

" **Is someone drinkin' over there?"** Dwarf Shaman could smell that type of contest from miles away. **"By the gods!"** He pushed through the crowd as realized who was smack dab in the middle.

" **And here I thought ye never touched that stuff..."** The short elder dwarf looked at Mute up and down. He stood in the front of the circle in disbelief at what he was seeing. He took notice of the bottles.

" **Seven of** _ **those**_ **?! You'll end up literally dead, lad!"** Dwarf Shaman was more worried instead of shocked now.

" **No no no! He can keep going!"** One man said from amongst the crowd. **"Keep going, Mute!"** Another encouraged him. **"Try to hit ten of 'em!"** One more added, setting a goal for the drunk silent man. His heavy glugs of the devil's drink could almost be audible if it weren't for the crowd.

After minutes of finishing the last few, he looked at the last bottle. Number twenty. He wobbled and stumbled, his vision had become horrendously blurred and his motor functions almost entirely gone. He lifted the bottle into the sky and perfectly poured its contents into his mouth.

He felt "alive". His senses were dulled, but that didn't matter. He was genuinely happy for once. A drunken grin emerged underneath his helm. At least he hadn't thrown up. Everyone in the crowd cheered as he threw the bottle on the ground, shattering it into pieces. He was then swarmed by a group of men who patted him on the back and even lifted him into the air.

Mute raised his left arm in the air triumphantly, earning him even more cheers. After the celebration had died down and people began to go back to their homes, Dwarf Shaman took it upon himself to help Mute get back home on account of his condition. The entire walk to his house was a silent one, though Mute did make some strange gestures to seemingly no one as they went on.

Once their destination had been reached, the dwarf led Mute to his bed and let the man fall atop of it. He pondered if staying for the night would be a good idea.

" **You're about as helpless as a newborn, lad."**

…..

This is the worst Mute had ever felt. He'd rather be shot in the chest than go through this mental agony.

 **This is what a hangover feels like?**

His motor functions were at least a little bit better. What was the time? Mute, still a little bit clumsy, walked up to the nearest window and looked outside and above himself. The sun positioned itself just above him. About noon.

" **Ah, yer finally up."** Dwarf Shaman emerged from the room Mute spent the most in. His small workshop where he produced all of his weapons. **"Hope ye don't mind, but I tinkered with the equipment in there."** He used his thumb to point behind himself.

Mute clutched his head and leaned against the wall. Dwarf Shaman laughed at his condition. **"I didn't know you could drink so much, lad."** Mute kept on clutching his head and decided laying on his bed for a few more hours might help get rid of this.

How could people become addicted to this stuff? His head hurt like hell and his mouth completely dry. He would definitely not do that again. But…

A small sip once in a while couldn't hurt.

" **Here."** Mute hadn't noticed, but Dwarf Shaman had gone somewhere else in his home and fetched some water for the poor bastard. The hungover man slowly took it and drank it. He felt slightly better.

… **.**

Damned lights… Mute shielded himself from the sun's rays as he walked along with Dwarf Shaman. He had almost entirely recovered, except for the high sensitivity to light he was apparently conflicted with. That and the drinker's remorse.

Despite this, Mute believed he was still fit to go and keep taking on quests. **"The rest of 'em are probably wondering where we're at right now."** The dwarf, obviously shorter than Mute, was somehow able to move even faster than him, despite the smaller reach his legs had.

Mute quickened his pace.

…..

" **There he is!"**

" **Hey, Mute!"**

" **Impressive stuff, man!"**

Mute was greeted by random adventurers he didn't know. In fact, he was sure some of them weren't even there during his whole alcohol binge.

" **Ten bottles of the devil's drink? That's crazy."**

Murmurs echoed throughout the Guild after he had entered. When he was drunk, he would've enjoyed that attention. But now… he wanted it gone. Hopefully, everyone would forget about it.

He would get his quest, he'd show it to one of the receptionists and be on his way. **"Lad, you've made the news!"** The silent man turned his head to face the voice that had yelled this out.

Dwarf Shaman stood and looked up at the broadsheet securely pinned to near the quests.

Wait a minute! Is that a picture of him?! How?! Mute almost pressed his face against the paper.

Wait...

It was actually a drawing. It's attention to detail insane. It made his drawings look like something a kindergartener would create. Who drew this? Are there actually skilled artists who draw events that they add on to this primitive version of the news? Mute begged this event would only stay in this guild. If it spread everywhere else…

…..

" **What rubbish is this?"**

" **It made the headlines, sir."**

" **Making a fool of yourself by succumbing to alcohol is nothing to be proud of."**

" **Of course, sir."**

" **Hmm…"**

" **Is something the matter, King?"**

" **What are those objects strapped to him?"**


	10. Working For The Silver Rank

Mute remembered the first time he had stepped into a church. He couldn't remember whether it was a Catholic or Christian church, the two religions were almost identical. Anyway, in that day, it was a wedding, his friend's wedding. He married a girl that had both known for years. In fact, it was Mute who had introduced the two.

To think two military based people would get married. Those kinds of situations are quite rare.

So this was a church, right? Looked more like a temple if anything. Mute wasn't too sure, but some crosses here and there indicated that it was very likely.

Where's the girl?

As people stared at the man in the strange attire, he entered and stepped foot in the cathedral. In the upper left seats, a girl in familiar clothing bowed her hand and seemed to be praying. He took a seat in the back row and patiently waited for her to do whatever it was she usually did.

The newlyweds soon after had cut ties with Mute after hearing of his rampage against his superiors. The cowards. They knew just how corrupt it is. Yet they turned a blind eye to all of that? And even worse, let the entirety of that occur?

Some freedom fighters they were.

Screw them.

He never liked them anyway.

 **"Um...hi, Mute."**

Mute looked up at the young girl who greeted him with a friendly smile and then proceeded to stand back up. It was time for them to go.

Mute hadn't realized that he passed by Priestess' little town every time he went to the guild to accept every quest he knew he could finish without the need for a party. Since then, he'd stop by and "protect Priestess" as Goblin Slayer had put it. He didn't mind it, like most things he interacted with.

Mute looked at the ruby tag around his neck. He'd gotten it just yesterday after dealing with some small time bandit leader terrorizing multiple villages. Spearman and Witch had actually joined in because they just so happened to want to do take it on at the same time, much to Spearman's annoyance.

…

The once was fortress had turned into ruins after Witch, Spearman, and Mute had engaged all the brigands inside of their own territory. Goblin Slayer wore unbeatable info and experience with Goblins. Something Mute could never even dream of mastering like he has. But he knew humans and the habits they always exhibited if you just took the time to watch.

" **There he is."** Spearman crumpled up a piece of paper Mute had nailed to the ground to assure it wouldn't be blown away by any hypothetical wind. In a prone position, performing reconnaissance with his high powered telescopic sniper rifle three-fourths of a mile away atop of a hill where one of their lookouts was originally positioned.

He had been to all lookout positions covering every possible path they could be taken by surprise. Mute, however, is levels above on how they thought. This was the perfect time for explosives. He could probably wipe out a little underneath half of the members with well-timed explosions that would bury so many in the rubble.

" **When the cute receptionist told me you had already gone ahead, I became worried."** Witch slightly frowned for a moment at the mention of Guild Girl, an expression that only Mute noticed.Spearman tossed the crumpled paper to Mute who caught it without so much as stealing a glance at it.

" **Were you afraid… That he… might be in peril?"** Witch asked as she pulled out her pipe.

" **I was afraid he'd take all the credit by killin' all of the bandits before we could."**

" _ **Why do you always smoke whenever we stop?"**_ Spearman thought to himself as he looked at her. He shook his head and refocused his attention on Mute. **"So what now?"**

Mute reached for a different piece of paper, slightly larger than the other and gave it to Spearman. All he saw was a simple drawing of the fortress with what seemed like numbers randomly strewn about random sections. Red dots on floors, arrows, circled places and lines leading to other places.

" **Hmm… I think I see what you're going for."** Witch said from behind Spearman who looked at Mute's plan from over his shoulder. **"You understand that?"** He handed the sheet to her assuming she'd get it. Working with a silent man had its downsides.

" **Yes… well… most of it anyway."**

…..

Men screamed as four different explosions going off at once killed or heavily injured their "comrades".

" **What the hell is going on down there? Is a demon attacking?"** A man who resided in a much larger room than the rest of the fortress looked out of his windowless well… window and watched as critical parts of the fortress came crumbling down on men. **"Watch out for the holes, archers!"**

The sounds of foreign gunfire filled the night sky as Mute suddenly barged in through the gaping hole he had created with his C4, shooting down men left and right with his shotgun and sniper rifle he dual wielded. Spearman positioned himself and readied himself for anyone trying to get too close to which who was basically defenseless as she provided support for the two.

The remaining archers that hadn't been yet taken down by Mute's explosions focused on him and began to let loose their arrows upon him. They would've landed had it not been for Witch who had cast a deflect spell near the entrance. Mute dropped his shotgun on the floor as if it was nothing special and began using his semi-auto sniper to pick off anyone trying to surprise Spearman.

Spearman, as the front-liner, took on a squad of men all ganging up on him. As the first one came up to him he used his spear to block his attack and then kick him towards his buddies right behind the bandit. As the weight of the first one caught the second bandit off guard, he succumbed to it as well and toppled over. The one with the spear took this chance to plunge it into all three at once who had conveniently fallen atop of one another. As he removed his weapon from their bellies a lone man tried to catch Spearman off-guard but was met with a sweep to his feet by the other end of the spear. He was finished off by a quick puncture to the neck, gurgling all the blood that would soon pool around his head.

As Spearman went in even further, Mute indicated for Witch to stop her spell and to go along with Spearman to which she obeyed and swiftly made her way towards Spearman. Mute used up the last remaining bullets in the snipers' clip to defend Witch as she went on to the battlefield.

He dropped the sniper and picked up his buckshot rifle. He then charged towards a group of men in disarray. They were basically defenseless against Mute who carried ranged weapons opposed to their melee. The shields they carried with them were not durable or strong enough for his buckshot as it tore right through its defense. The first man found twelve small pellets pierced right to his body causing him to stumble. As Mute cocked his shotgun one man attempted to use this moment to try and land a critical hit on him.

Mute, however, grabbed the other end of his shotgun positioned himself like a batter in a baseball game and swung as hard as he could at the man's temple. Since it was the softest part of the human head, the shotgun and sniper's butt end were made exactly for situations like this. His tri-dagger was merely for unarmored whose flesh and meat could be easily split. It wasn't a piercing weapon.

As the man's head caved in and blood began to spurt out from his nose and shoot from his mouth the rest of the remaining foes charged Mute who simply shot them all down one by one. He eventually made his way over to a room blatantly spelling out that there he would find the man who had caused the end of so many villages and people.

Mute shot the lock on the door and then kicked it open but made sure to move back in case anyone tried to get the jump on him. A man suddenly came out and preemptively swiped his sword assuming someone would be standing there. The last thing he saw was Mute pointing a strange weapon at him.

Mute checked every square inch of the room, underneath the bed, behind shelves, and other decors, assuming that since this was a fantasy world, a secret room somewhere in this fortress wouldn't be far-fetched at all. He, however, found nothing.

Yells of pure agony erupted from underneath Mute accompanied with loud crackles of what seemed to remind him of fire. Must be Witch's doing.

As he checked one last time for anything suspicious, the sound of something crumbling behind him caught his attention, as he turned around to look he was met with an enormous hand that slugged Mute's head. The force of the attack was so strong that it literally sent him tumbling hard enough to break through the weak and brittle stone. That didn't mean it didn't hurt though.

Spearman and Witch drew their attention to Mute's falling body as it hit the ground. **"What the…?!"** Spearman, with Witch right behind him, sprinted over to Mute despite falling from a high distance, seemed to be alright.

Then, a very tall man with a body shape of a silverback gorilla yet with a much more resemblance to that of humanity came forth from the hole he made, leaped and landed not too far from Mute. Just then another man who looked identical to the first one burst through one of the walls.

" **Kill them all, Twins!"** A man adorned in spectacular clothing yelled as he suddenly sprinted through one of the holes that Mute had made earlier.

" **Hey! Go get him! Me and Mute got this!"** Witch retreated from the fight and began her pursuit of the fleeing leader of the fortress. Spearman and Mute both readied themselves for the fight.

" **Brother, you can have the pretty boy. I'll smash the weirdo."** The one that had manhandled Mute said.

The other said nothing but merely clicked his tongue in annoyance at his brother. **"You sure you want to take us one on one?"** Spearman put on a quick spectacle with his spear.

" **Don't tell me what to do."** The other one said, though whether he directed this to his brother or Spearman nobody knew but him.

" **Mute…"** The silent man turned his head to face Spearman who had uttered his name. **"Don't die!"** He yelled and engaged his foe.

…..

" **And then what happened?"** A woman leaned in closer to hear Spearman's tale. The man telling the story smiled and said: **"We won of course!"** He continued by saying: **"They stood no chance against us as we cut them down without so much as a thought."**

" **Hey didn't you mention another adventurer?"** A gritty looking man with a small scar across his mouth asked and then proceeded to take a sip of his beer. Spearman looked at Witch whose face showed that she had no idea where Mute had gone. **"Yeah, he kinda likes to keep to himself. I guess…?"**

" **And the man who had fled?"**

…..

" **Jeez… relax! He's dead."** Spearman commented as Mute took the liberty of bashing the enormous man's skull a couple more times to guarantee that he was in fact dead. Experience had told him to always double tap. Well, that and those cheeky goblins who frequently pretended to play dead.

The two men turned their heads at the sound of someone being dragged across the wet crimson stained battlefield. **"A present… for you both."** Witch said as she harshly shoved the milk-drinker back to the destroyed bandit fortress. Mute was the first to approach the man and look down upon him.

" **What do you want to do with him?"**

Mute soon found himself dropping the defenseless tied up man to the remaining village remotely built near the fortress. A note attached to his chest that read:

 _ **Do whatever you want with him.**_

…..

" **What DID the villagers do?"** The same woman asked. Spearman simply shrugged and proceeded to take a sip of his beverage. **"Don't know."** He paused for a second as if thinking about something and then said: **"Can't imagine it'd be anything nice though."**

" **Hey! That rhymed!"**

…..

Mute drank a liquid Priestess had never seen before. He almost swallowed the cup along with its contents with the way he had just dumped it all into his helmet.

" **booze, lad?"** Dwarf Shaman asked as he played with some gems he had on the table he sat across from him and next to Priestess who sat across to High Elf Archer. Mute shook his head 'yes'.

But of course, he lied. That was not an alcoholic drink.

" **Beardcutter is almost ready. He's just gettin' his gear together."** The dwarf claimed since he knew everyone was wondering where their leader was.

Priestess looked up at Lizard Priest who was the only one in the group not sitting down. **"Why not take a seat?"** She meekly asked. The scaly creature almost didn't hear her as he had a look of realization that someone was talking to him, then he remembered the question she had asked.

" **The table is crowded… not to mention, it takes someone of my stature too long to sit down on small tables anyway. Not to mention getting up and making sure to not knock anything over."** Priestess' face had a look that said:

" _ **Oh… that makes sense…"**_

" **He sure takes his sweet time."** High Elf Archer leaned against a wall and crossed her arms.

" **Milord Goblin Slayer guarantees he is always prepared for combat. He shouldn't be much longer."** Right after Lizard Priest had spoken, the party's leader walked out of the room Goblin Slayer had first been recruited in helping the party of three adventurers, Lizard Priest, Dwarf Shaman, and High Elf Archer. He checked his gear one last time, making sure he'd be ready for the trip and then looked at his party.

" **Let's go goblin slaying."**


	11. Of The Lich In Elven Territory

Familiarizing himself with this world was something he should've done earlier. Since it was the closest he had chosen a province almost entirely populated by Elves or Mer as others like to call them. If he said that he come here just to purely learn about a new culture, he would be lying. He came from afar on the hunt for more difficult quests that would provide a greater challenge and give him more experience. He needed the toughest ones to break ruby and hit bronze as fast as possible.

Mute finally came out of the dense forest and got his first look at an elf settlement. A ludicrously large and wide tree with branches to match forced Mute to look up in awe. The branches that split into smaller ones were used to support small homes on them. It was totally insane to him. He watched multiple elves masterfully climb, leap, and fearlessly move from branch to branch without a single ounce of hesitation. So many homes on that tree… haven't they thought about what would happen if the unfathomably large tree would to collapse someday?

But… this is a fantasy world. For all he knew, that tree could have been there for centuries providing a home for so long. Who's to say that the wood is weaker than any metal man could have welded back from his world?

Nature here was beautiful, he couldn't deny that.

" **Who's that?"** Someone commented as Mute came walking down a path and headed to a building he assumed was a guild what with all of the decorations and aura of importance it gave up. Most people here were elves no doubt, but once in a while he'd spot a human here and there, but even they gave him strange looks.

Guess some of them prefer to live on the ground.

Mute thought to himself as he walked by many variants of homes that all had their own unique touch to them. For example, the house he was currently getting closer to had some sort of strange glowing wispy fabric layered around the roof of the advanced hut.

Or maybe, there wasn't any more space up there. Actually, come to think of it, none of these people looked to be the adventuring type.

As soon he stepped foot into the relatively small guild **,** all eyes were quickly drawn to him, some immediately ignored him, others kept on looking. An elf behind the counter looked at him as if expecting something. Mute then used his thumb and index finger to show the rank around his neck, proving he was an adventurer.

" **Quests are over there."** He pointed to the board on the other side of the building where aspiring elves looking to become adventurers stood. Some venture out from their homes to sate their wanderlust. Mute made his way over to the board and began searching for the toughest quest available.

And then there it was. silver-rank worthy. It essentially was this:

A lich commanding a growing army of undead beings in a vast underground crypt discovered not too long ago by adventurers.

Mute couldn't really plan things out when it came to going into caverns or anything related to the underground because he needed to know what the layout was. But since this was unearthed by other adventurers he'd have to improvise on the spot. He grabbed the sheet and then returned back to the guild man.

After he looked it over and then back to Mute he had a doubtful look on his face. **"...I know it's not my place to say… but you should really consider asking the experienced adventurers living on the sacred tree."** Mute didn't bother walking away and lightly slapped the piece of paper indicating he didn't want any help. **"You sure about this?"** He asked the silent man who simply nodded yes to his question. After a moment's hesitation, the elf caved in and let him take on this quest. He handed Mute a map of the surrounding areas with directions to the crypt.

…..

Mute thanked the carriage driver by handing him the amount necessary to pay for such services. And now for the walk. The map indicated for him to head down a blatantly ominous path with a sign that he would've read had it been in a language he understood or recognized. It most likely warned of danger ahead, but Mute would obviously ignore that.

He found what he was looking for in a clearing. The entrance, still not totally cleaned up thanks to whatever circumstance the people who were digging this up encountered, reeked of death. Something was definitely rotting in there, whether it was recent or a long time ago, Mute couldn't really tell.

With so many possible scenarios coursing through his mind, Mute quickly pushed open the large heavy door and then quickly leaped back just in case. He kept his shotgun raised at all times and aimed it in whatever direction he thought was most important.

Entering the dimly lit crypt gave him goosebumps. Not out of fear, but out excitement. The first section of the dungeon seemed simple enough. Just a plain hallway with torches and small engravings on the walls. At the end of it was a door. A normal person wouldn't think much of it, but this spelled T-R-A-P to Mute.

He took a step forward to a suspiciously very slightly raised slab on the ground. He stepped on it and then quickly leaped back. For a split second, he saw an oversized ax coming swinging from the right and then to the left. Much to Mute's amusement, the mostly skeletal body stuck to the end of the ax caused him to smile, finding it's strange death position rather funny.

He realized that he was starting to become distracted and quickly stopped for a moment. He removed his backpack and took his weekly dose of a strange liquid.

It always tasted the same. Like crappy cherry flavored medicine.

He poured its contents into his helm. The effects immediately making itself apparent. His eyes became slightly bloodshot, along with that came some temporary eye twitching that'd last for another one hundred sixty-eight hours. There. Now he could focus himself on the task ahead. The trap Mute had purposefully triggered repositioned itself back above aground waiting for someone to step on the slab again. Mute avoided it this time with his back in a fixed aimed position towards the direction he was walking.

The insanely focused man began to feel that this was a waste of time since he hadn't encountered any undead or any enemies for that matter. But, man, this dungeon is insanely deep. But for what purpose? His mind kept telling him that something about this place was off but he couldn't piece it together.

A room! Finally! Mute stepped through the door-shaped hole and instantly noticed the cobwebs, random candles, chairs, dining tables, and empty shelves all aged beyond repair. To his right was another staircase that descended even further. From the looks of it, it was supposed to be a dining hall as one would conclude if they noticed the plates and goblets random scattered about.

Oh? It was Mute's lucky day. A single gold coin lay underneath one of the candles placed near the middle of the ancient and rusted dining table. Mute could exhale near the thing and it would collapse on itself. Actually, the same could be said for nearly everything in this strangely narrowed dungeon. Well, he better head down.

Ah. If it isn't the fodder…

Mute drew his tri-dagger as three large rats came charging at him. He knew exactly what to do. The first one coming through the tight hallway leaped for the arm holding his weapon.

Smart Rat. Mute thought to himself as he let the creature bite down on his arm. The teeth did nothing but merely leave saliva on his right armored arm. Mute rammed his left arm's finger into the eye of the oversized pest who immediately let go and let out a high pitched shriek that echoed throughout the entire dungeon. Its cries of pain ceased after Mute had driven his dagger into its throat.

Still alive the creature writhed in agony before bleeding out, its eyes becoming dead and cold as the temperature inside the crypt. The second, apparently more intelligent than the other two, realized it stood no chance against Mute and fled further into the cave. The third one was foolishly brave and attacked Mute who simply shoved his tri-dagger inside of his mouth and then twisted it furiously from the inside causing the creature to start leaking blood from its mouth, effectively staining his right hand full of the crimson fluid he didn't bother removing from his glove.

Looks like Mute was about to be rewarded. He noticed a chest tucked away in a corner in a room adjacent to the one he currently stood in. He might as well see if it contained anything useful inside. He slowly made his way over until he finally stood in front of the dusty chest. Mute shot the lock on the chest and then kicked the thing open. Inside of the container lay two things. A couple pieces of gold coins and a very large long tongue.

The chest suddenly leaped and attempted to close the lid on Mute's head. The silent adventurer reacted quickly and pushed back against the top and bottom of the jaws. It let out a small noise as insanely sharp teeth suddenly jutted out from the mouth, piercing through Mute's hands attempting to weaken their strength against the deadly claws. Mute slightly grimaced underneath his helm, but showed no signs of giving in to the pain. He then slowly raised the chest into the air and turned it horizontally. His eyes became even more bloodshot underneath his helm as he spread its jaws wide open and in one final push split the monster in half sending splinters and pieces of wood to the floor. The creature flailed it's tongue wildly into the air as it died, creating a split second shower of saliva. Mute dropped the two parts of the chest and looked at his hands.

He opened his hands back and forth repeatedly and realized that his fingers were "jamming". Pulling the trigger on his weapons would be very difficult and as a result, could end up getting him killed. He took off his backpack and forced it to lay against a wall. He reached inside of the backpack and pulled out a healing potion. He opened the lid and dumped the liquid into his helm.

At least this drink didn't taste like the terrible medicine.

" **That was really impressive."** Someone from behind Mute said. Mute ceased his movements instantly and stood frozen. **"I think you scared him."** Someone else said. Realizing those behind him meant no harm to him he slowly turned around and faced what he assumed to be adventurers.

" **We noticed you going after this troublesome lich all alone. We thought you could use some help."** One female high elf mage said with a reassuring smile on her face. The other one, from behind what he assumed to be the leader, he was almost covered in varying potions of size, color, shape, all securely strapped on his cloak. This person tossed Mute a potion and said:

" **That weak healing potion may have healed your flesh, but it didn't fix the torn ligaments and bones in your body. Drink it and hand it back to me."** Mute did as he was told and poured the contents of the spherical shaped blue potion into his mouth. Almost instantly the effects took place as he felt his hands fully heal.

Mute tossed the bottle back at the man who caught it without even looking as he worked on something near a dusty table. Mute looked at the final member of the group. The sneaky one for sure. Though whether this one was a thief, ninja, or whatever class he wasn't sure. He didn't know the race either due to the hood and the plain mask hidden underneath all of it. Mute reached for the gold coins previously found on the chest and flung two at the alchemist who again caught it masterfully.

" **Where's our thief?"** The mage asked the alchemist who shrugged at her question. **"Well... let's wait for her then I guess... Hey! Don't you want some help at least?"** Mute is not a patient man. Waiting for this thief would be a waste a time, not to mention he didn't really want to talk to this group of people anyway, he was simply here for the spectacular sights and the new interesting quests available. Doing near the same thing over and over again was proving very boring, it wasn't easy, in fact, he'd almost lost his life so many times, but it didn't sit right with Mute. This is the first time he's ever fought something undead.

The mage sighed as she watched Mute go deeper into the dungeon. **"I don't know…"** Alchemist and Mage turned around to face the thief in the party. Shorter than the other two but still at around five feet in height the woman looked up and continued her sentence. **"He looks pretty capable to me."**

" **Even if he is expendable, no one can stand up to a lich alone. Only platinum ranks can. If we want to save his life - which I don't - then we should go now."**

Multiple shotgun blasts along with bodies hitting the floor and the very faint **TINK** of a casing hitting the floor caught the attention of the party of three. **"Oh come on! He's getting all the experience!"** Mage followed by Thief quickly ran past the door mute had gone through. Alchemist let out a sigh and drank a potion as he ran.

…..

It was about damn time. Mute kicked over an undead rotting body, chomping its teeth over and over subconsciously. He used his left foot to press harshly down at its neck. As he did this he looked to his right and fired a shot at a sentient corpse blindly charging with an ax. The pellets tore right through it's rusted and ancient elven armor sending pieces of rotten flesh, teeth, bone to walls which properly landed on the floor afterward.

The undead one underneath Mute's boot kept trying to get up but was met with a point-blank blast to its skull as well. A sudden fireball erupted from behind Mute catching another undead corpse to explode in a ball of glory as it was terribly charred. The thief that had somehow gotten behind all the enemies began to quietly and swiftly dispatch the ones falling behind in the ranks with deadly piercing blows to the skull or neck. The Alchemist simply pitched potions at groups of undead. Some contained acid and others exploded when coming into contact with the enemies or the floor. Within seconds, natural teamwork amongst the three adventurers had caused the forces of the living dead to completely fall and die for good this time.

" **I've never seen weapons like that before."** Mage said aloud as she watched Mute reload and cock his shotgun then replacing it with his suppressed sniper rifle. **"Where'd you get that from? From a raid?"** Thief then gasped as a theory suddenly struck her head. **"You were carried by golds and platinums, weren't you?!"** Alchemist checked his stock of easily replenishable potions and made a guess of how many more he could use. **"I don't think that's it…"** Mage's hands suddenly became frost like as she then mentally switched to be using some ice-like based spell.

" **That has to - Ooo!"** Thief stopped herself from talking as she shamelessly looted the bodies scattered randomly amongst the floor. She then frowned as she came across the burnt corpses of the dead. As she looted the bodies, she found the currency she was looking for. Though, most of it was useless since every single one was either way too burnt or had been partially melted thanks to Alchemist. Before she even got a chance to glare at the aloof man who said:

" **Not my problem."**

…..

" **You don't talk much do you?"** Mage asked the silent man who confidently kept on walking through the deep seemingly endless dungeon. They had come across the occasional undead minion from the lich, but nothing major had happened yet. Mute turned to face Mage and shook his head. **"Being mysterious doesn't make you desirable y'know."** Thief informed the silent man who ignored her, not even bothering to look at her. Romantic relationships with someone was the very last thing that would ever go through his head. Besides… though he would never admit it or show it through any facial expressions but…

Mute has Gynophobia. The irrational fear of women. His only fear. Most might laugh at this, but that's not what would is why he's never revealed it to anyone. He doesn't know why, and that's because of the memory wipe every new recruit had to undergo. Memory Wipes do just what its name suggests, it doesn't affect anything permanently rooted, but any psychological trauma or fears may still surface from time to time. The only reason Mute knows about memory wipes is because of data he found on a mainframe after he had slaughtered everyone inside of headquarters. He may not be a hacker, but after killing higher-ups, removing their eyes, and preserving it to gain access to certain areas, finding all of that info didn't prove to be difficult.

" **Beyond this door is the Lich…"** Mage looked at the oversized black door. The engravings once decorated on it had either crumbled over the years or someone destroyed it. She tried pushing the door open but quickly found it to be insanely heavy. She drove her entire body to the door but only managed to slightly nudge it.

" **Calm down! Use these potions. It'll increase your strength three times the normal amount."** After handing the green liquid contained in a translucent bottle and making sure everyone had chugged it down, Alchemist approached the door with Mute, Mage, and Thief doing the same. They all looked at one another, and on Alchemist's signal, they all pushed at once. The door creaked loudly as it scrapped along the mossy floor. Everyone grunted and pushed as hard as they could until it hit the adjacent wall on the other side.

There he was. The Lich. The undead wizard turned around and looked at all of the adventurers dead in the eye. It let out a strange shriek as it's saliva filled jaw opened wide, horror apparent in the eerie glowing blue eyes. The staff it wielded suddenly smacked the floor, and almost instantly, undead burst from tombs, the ground, and even from above.

Mute was not in the mood for this. He figured if he just eliminated the Lich first, he wouldn't have to deal with the others. He drew his sniper and quickly aimed for the necromancer. He pressed the trigger, only to find the bullet stopped midair. He looked at the flying bullet in confusion, though his thoughts were immediately stopped when he found himself suddenly spurting blood from his right arm. The bullet had been sent back to him, powerful and faster than before. The others rushed to his aid but ceased after he motioned for them to stop. He showed no sign of being unable to fight but he did bring his sniper up once more.

" **Are you sure, you're alright? Your arm…"** Mage looked at Mute who took a knee and began firing at the undead who were still just barely spawning. **"He's good! Focus on the undead and that Lich!"** Thief said as she suddenly crouched and disappeared from everyone's sight. Alchemist stood behind Mage and Mute chugging down a purple liquid. He then drew an advanced slingshot, loading a rock next to it. Thief made sure no one got close to her ranged comrades who were eliminating enemies left and right at a rate that definitely rattled the Lich's soul.

Numbers wouldn't be enough…

Thief jumped on the back of an enemy and stabbed right through the weakened cranium. She grabbed this opponent's ancient dagger and pitched it at another enemy's skull. The dagger lodged itself in the temple and buried itself even further after the body fell and landed on the hilt. Alchemist kept supplying Mage with an almost endless amount of potions capable of restoring one use of magic per bottle. She kept unleashing devastating flames and exploding balls of fire from within her hands over and over, eliminating groups rather easily. The Lich realized it would soon die if he didn't stop underestimating these adventurers. He floated rather erratically as it began doing strange motions with it's decayed and, bony hands. From underneath Thief, a humongous hand burst from the ground and grabbed hold of her leg.

The new enemy wasted no time as it's entire body burst forth from the ground. The adventurers weren't the only shocked at this development. The Lich meant to summon warriors from another realm to come to his aid, but instead, he accidentally resurrected a GIANT! What Luck!

" **No way…"** Mage looked up at the thirty-foot being as it tore through and destroyed the entire ceiling since it wasn't high enough for it. Around it, almost the entire anatomy of the room in the crypt fell, revealing the outside world to them. The giant held a giant metal spiked club. It wore surprisingly well-kept armor with chains wrapped in its body suggesting he was restrained. A plain blocky helmet obstructed its face but didn't muffle the heavy breathing and grunts coming from within. The giant raised his arm and looked at Thief who kept trying to come loose while upside down. It eyeballed her for a good minute until he decided to reel his arm back and then slamming her down on the ground which created a small crater. Nearly all of her bones shattered upon impact some even puncturing her lung. She only had minutes of life left in her of someone didn't help.

" **B-Bastard!"** Alchemist yelled as he pulled out the strongest healing potion he had and began sprinting to Thief. The giant slowly turned and used his leg to sweep the floor and hit Alchemist who tanked the attack thanks to the still active strength potion. **"She's gonna die if we don't help her! Distract him! Give him all you got!"**

Mute nearly fell as the ground began to tremble underneath him. To his left, Mage began floating mid-air, her hair spiking up above her as a strange crimson bright symbol slowly manifested underneath her. Mute realized that his bullets might hurt the giant, but it wouldn't stumble or make him fall in any way so…

It's a good thing he keeps these around. Some of the remaining flashbangs from his world. Since he didn't know how to create these, he made sure to only use the remaining five in situations like these. At some point, he was going to need an alternative.

He dropped his guns and backpack and rushed the giant. The huge being focused its attention on the silent man as began expertly climbing the towering man using chains and portions of his armor. The colossus lost interest in alchemist as it felt the sting of Mute's tri-dagger dragging and splitting his flesh. Just because it was undead, doesn't mean it didn't feel pain. It turned around, violently stomping, trying to get this bug off of him.

" **C'mon… don't die…"** Alchemist mumbled to himself as he poured the contents of the drink haphazardly inside of Thief's throat, who could barely breathe. After a few seconds, the potion effects became apparent. But she was not fully healed. Alchemist may be an expert at potion crafting, but he was no master, her wounds were too severe, the only thing he had done was extend her life to an hour instead of a minute.

" **My attack is ready!"** Mage yelled as her entire body became consumed by a swirling cloak of fire. Mute was caught by the giant as he tried to keep climbing. He smiled underneath his helm because it just made his job a lot easier. Strapped to his body the flashbang along with a small knot tied to it. As the giant raised its arm, attempting to do the same to Mute as he had done to Thief, he unknowingly pulled the pin and seconds later was met with a blinding light that affected mostly him since he was insanely tall. It let go of Mute and clutched its face as if that somehow would help get rid of the effect.

Mage then released her blast. A huge stream of molten lava and fire pierced and bore a hole in the giant's chest. It suddenly stopped moving as it felt the lava pour through and out him. The giant collapsed to its knees and then fell backward onto the Lich who couldn't move out of the way in time, effectively killing him. **"Did I get him?"** Mage asked herself as she slowly descended back onto the floor.

" **We need to get her to a cleric now!"** Alchemist said as he made Thief drink another one of his potions trying to keep her alive. **"Wait. Where's the quiet guy?"** Mage asked. She was answered by the sound of Mute shoving the giants left arm off of him. He then got up, limping. His left leg had been totally shattered, but he didn't care, only one thing was on his mind. As he limped toward Alchemist who held Thief in his arms, he produced the only object that's kept him alive so far. The same needle that he used in that cave, in that sewer, and now in this crypt. The only difference was that he wasn't going to use it on himself.

Without warning, he raised his arm and pierced Thief's left arm and let the liquid flow into her. Almost instantly, the bones in her body mended back to its original state, the wounds on her body disappeared, even the scars she had on her previous to this encounter were gone as well. He dislodged the needle and put back into a sheath made just for that miracle heal. Thief quickly opened her eyes, the first thing she saw was the other three looking down at her.

…..

" **Here's your share."** Thief tossed Mute his hefty amount of gold coins. They were back at the mostly elf populated guild. **"I still can't believe we encountered a giant!"** Mage half bounced in her seat as the thought of their victory overwhelmed her mind. **"Still… that miracle cure of yours…"** Alchemist leaned in from where he sat and looked at Mute who was right across from him. **"You're not going to tell me how to make or get one will you?"** Mute didn't move an inch. Alchemist sighed and realized he wasn't as good of a support that he had originally thought. His friend nearly died and none of his best potions were enough to even slightly heal her.

" **Then I'll surpass you. Mute."**


	12. Fleshreaver

Mute ceased his trek and helplessly watched as his bag quickly ripped under all of the weight, the surplus amount of bullets left the mags containing them after they had hit the ground, letting off small heavy thuds and plinks. He turned around and took a knee collecting the ammunition and gathering them all in his left arm that he pressed against his body.

" **Use this."** Goblin Slayer handed the man what looked like a large leather pouch. Mute looked up at the man for a second and then at his bag. After a moment of thought, he gratefully accepted it from his hand and started pouring the ammunition into the bag.

" **What's the holdup?!"** High Elf Archer yelled since she was ahead of the group, a good distance away.

" **Mute's pouch ripped!"** Dwarf Shaman yelled back, tippy-toeing as if it would somehow help his voice become louder.

" **What?!"** The high elf did the same and yelled even louder this time.

" **I said the lad's pouch ripped!"** He put more energy into his shout this time.

" **WHAT?!"** The woman nearly screamed that time.

The short man sighed and inhaled as much air as possible. **"I SAID THE POUCH RIPPED!"** He actually screamed.

" **Oh, sorry, it's just that I can't hear you from down there!"** High Elf Archer placed her finger next to her mouth and put on a shit-eating grin she always used whenever she had won an argument with the dwarf as her opponent.

It took a moment for the dwarf to register her joke. When he did, he clenched his fists and stomped the ground, growling in annoyance. She only looked back with the same exact grin and kept on moving forward.

…..

Night eventually came. Though they had covered quite a distance, carriages, once in a while, were hard to find, as such, adventurers had to get used to all the walking and treks across different landscapes to get to their destinations.

" **Deja vu is what they call it, yes?"** The reptilian man opened his bag and set it on the ground. Since he was the tank in their group, he was able to carry materials for setting up camps, though that's not to say that no one else in the group pitched in by carrying similar equipment.

" **Hm?"** High Elf Archer was busy observing the strange object Mute had in his hand that he was currently trying to use to light up the campfire.

" **I feel as if I've already seen this take place once before. It is a strong sensation."** He watched Mute try to teach High Elf Archer to use some sort of tool.

" **You mean, you dreamed about this happening?"** Priestess asked as she sat on a nearby stump. Very convenient.

The lizardman nodded. **"It was a dream I had not too long ago."** His slit pupils suddenly increased in size and his mouth opened as if he was smiling.

" **It happens all the time, Scaly."** Dwarf Shaman unleashed his alcoholic beverage, something he always carried no matter what.

" **Oooooo…"** High Elf Archer stared at the small flickering light that had sparked and quickly exposed itself. **"What's that?"** The grey-haired man set his drink down and eyed the object the high elf held in her right hand.

" **A lighter."** Goblin Slayer sat on the ground next to his set of different weapons and throwables. **"It can light flammable things on fire."** Priestess informed him. **"Is this another tool from your world, Mute?"** The dwarf asked the man who seemed to be also inspecting his advanced weaponry.

He nodded his head and watched the slim woman move the object near the wood. **"Your world certainly seems much more advanced in technology."** The fire coming from the pile of wood reflected off the lizard's eyes. In what seemed like a miracle, Mute trusted this party a bit more. It showed since he didn't mind lending and teaching them how to use tools from the modern world. The two men, Mute and Goblin Slayer, watched the others enjoy themselves, swapping stories with one another, learning a little bit more of who they were as people. **"Watch over us."** The man entirely covered in his rusted armor reorganized all of his items, wrapping them up in a long cloth and stored it away in his rucksack. Mute watched him approach his sleeping bag and get inside of it, keeping a dagger underneath his pillow just in case of an attack. Mute played with the lighter in his hand, opening and closing the lid over and over again with one hand. Priestess and High Elf Archer looked at both Mute and Goblin Slayer. Two men so alike yet different in their own ways.

" **If we rest earlier tonight. Tomorrow we'll have the energy needed to complete the task at hand."** Lizard Priest suggested as he got out his slightly larger sleeping bag.

And so they all fell asleep. Not a bug was disturbed that night

…..

" **C'mon sleepyhead, adventure's ahead!"** High Elf Archer said as Priestess groggily shifted underneath her sleeping bag and slowly rose from it. She looked around herself and realized that Lizard Priest, Dwarf Shaman, Goblin Slayer, and Mute were nowhere to be seen.

" **Where is everyone?"** The petite girl let out a yawn after saying this. **"Oh, they went out looking for food. We're a little low on rations."**

…..

" **By the gods! Hold her down!"** Lizard Priest, despite his strength, was having a hard time holding down this Owlbear. The beast's madness was apparent underneath its red-rimmed eyes. This eight-foot animal was giving the three men a hard time. The animal thrashed about with fury none of them had ever seen an animal give off. So rough in fact that it gave even the strongest person in their group a run for their money.

" **It is not that simple!"** The lizard-man hissed as he tried to overpower the Owlbear by trying to put it in a chokehold. The ill-tempered and stubborn animal stood on its two legs and wrapped its paws around Lizard Priest who was caught off-guard by this.

The creature managed to somehow pull the heavy lizard man forward and slam him on the ground. **"I'm ready! Get out of the way!"** Lizard Priest rolled out of the way as Dwarf Shaman began to chant:

" _ **Drink deep, sing loud, let the spirits lead you! Sing loud, step quick, and when you sleep they see you, may a jar of fire wine be in your dreams to greet you!"**_ He took a sip from a jug. The spittle from his mouth spread all over the Owlbear like a mist. Though it seemed unaffected at first, it began to stumble slightly, though its sheer willpower and fury kept it going longer than it should've.

Lizard Priest and Dwarf Shaman backed off and watched as the creature tried it's hardest to stay awake until it finally collapsed and dozed off, creating a small wind of air as it hit the ground. Two sets of footsteps came from behind the other two, one heavy, the other almost inaudible.

" **We found food."** Goblin Slayer said as held one of the two adult rabbits. He then stopped moving, bearing witness to the sleeping animal in front of the two other men. Dwarf Shaman let out a boisterous laugh.

" **Sorry, lads, but it looks like we did you one better!"**

…..

" **Let me and Mute go first."** Goblin Slayer as he first stepped foot into the ridiculously large cave. The first thing the two stoic men witnessed was the utter beauty of the cave tarnished by the filth of the goblins. A once crystal clear pond corrupted by urine and excrement. The walls etched in what looked like total gibberish and the various totems spread around. Flowers stomped on by small feet. And what appeared to be broken or useless weapons.

A whole community could've lived in this cave. Emphasis on "could've".

" **What do you see?"** Priestess asked. **"Dead goblins. A lot of them."** Everyone looked at each other in confusion. **"What?"** High Elf Archer stepped forward. **"Did someone get the same quest from a different guild?"**

" **It is not rare for such things to occur."** Lizard Priest claimed. **"I want to be sure."** The man in the grimy armor said as he started making his way in with Mute following him.

…..

Goblin Slayer started counting the number of dead goblins. Taking into account the vast space this cave was, he assumed it would take a while. Oddly enough, he didn't feel threatened in the slightest. Maybe every goblin was killed. **"Stay behind us. The light from your lamp interferes with this night vision."**

High Elf Archer slowed her pace and did what the goblin killer ordered. Everyone became a lot tenser and anxious as Goblin Slayer kept counting aloud all of the bodies he spotted.

Imagination is what causes most fear.

" **1** **3…"**

" **1** **4…"**

" **1** **5…"**

" **1** **6…"**

The two men leading the group stopped. Mute suddenly took a knee and pulled out his suppressed sniper rifle. The sound of the weapon going off, combined with the bullet hitting soft flesh, echoed throughout the cave.

" **1** **7…"**

…..

" **Careful. A cliff is up ahead."** Goblin Slayer warned the adventurers. Mute crouched and picked up a small rock. He reached out towards the end of the path and let go of it. After what seemed like 5 seconds the sound of the stone hit the ground with a barely audible thud.

A powerful blast of wind suddenly came from below slightly pushing back Mute and Goblin Slayer off their feet.

" **What in the gods was that?!"**

Dwarf Shaman's question was almost immediately answered as a large winged humanoid suddenly appeared before them from below the cliff. Entirely composed of goblin meat and flesh, it's sword created from the bones of the dead goblins, the being charged at the group. Everybody but Goblin Slayer and Mute instantly recognized this being. **"A fleshreaver?! This far in the land?!"** Someone yelled as the turbulent wind hit and pushed everyone back.

Goblin Slayer took a stance, keeping its eye on the creature. **"Cast protection now!"** He ordered. But it was way too late. The creature had already taken care of their support weapon. Priestess had been yanked away at the last second by Lizard Priest. Her staff had been grabbed by its talons. The creature let out a shriek as it gripped the object harder. It trembled underneath the pressure the Fleshreaver was creating until it finally gave in and snapped in half, much to Priestess' dismay.

Goblin Slayer clicked his tongue in annoyance. High Elf Archer - bow already drawn - nocked one arrow and let it soar. It cut through the air and pierced the creature's wing.

Though it had no effect as it simply stuck to the creature. It didn't feel pain on account of it being entirely made of flesh. **"Try aiming for its head!"** Lizard Priest yelled. Goblin Slayer cursed himself for not bringing a better long ranged weapon. He wouldn't make that mistake again.

Everyone in the group, aside from Mute, brought slingshots in case of situations like this. Goblin Slayer had voiced his concerns after the whole incident in the sewers with the goblins.

" **It's no good trying to shoot it down! It's too fast!"** High Elf Archer kept attacking, nocking arrow in her bow one by one, but at this rate, she'd lose all of her arrows on this one enemy.

Mute realized trying to get an accurate shot would be next to impossible or it would require a lot of luck. So he switched weapons. After replacing his sniper rifle with his shotgun, he aimed in the general direction of the flying monster and pressed the trigger. A flash of light erupted from the shotgun for a split second. Multiple pellets met their target, Though the creature didn't show any pain, it lost a good portion of its stolen goblin flesh and slowed down just enough to let High Elf Archer strike devastating blows to its head with her arrows. The creature began accidentally bumping into the walls as it struggled to maintain flight. As it fell to the ground Lizard Priest and Goblin Slayer rushed to where it landed and began to strike the creature down.

The winged being blasted out screeches as it clawed and swung erratically. **"Watch the tail!"** Dwarf Shaman yelled. His warning, however, was too late as the meaty large tail smacked Lizard Priest a good distance away. It was so hard in fact, that it had actually caused him to drop his blade.

The creature then began to try and fly towards the dead bodies of other goblins in an effort to mend its wounds and take flight again.

Mute suddenly whipped his sheathed tr-dagger at Goblin Slayer who caught it with one hand.

" **I won't let you."** Using the tri-dagger Mute had lent him, the violent adventurer began splitting the being's flesh. It proved very effective as the meat that held the monster together began to tear apart and collapsed on one another. After a literal minute of stabs and shanks and more ranged attacks piercing the creature, it finally succumbed to all of the damage, going entirely limp.

But it still lived. Someone, however, was about to end that.

Goblin Slayer placed his foot on the creatures head, slowly lifted it into the air, and then with all the force he could possibly muster, crushed its head, sending chunks of meat splattering and sticking to nearby walls.

" **Is it really dead?"** Priestess asked as she eyed the creature from quite a distance. Dwarf Shaman sighed. Not out of relief, but out of disappointment in himself. He hadn't really done anything to help. A feeling that Priestess shared as well.

" **At least we didn't have to fight all of those goblins."** High Elf Archer said as she started recovering arrows that hadn't been dented or blunted. She even retrieved some from the creature. She inspected each and every one of them ever so carefully.

Mute began to walk away from the group, but not towards the entrance of the cave, but back to the cliff, this creature had emerged from. Mute's eyesight suddenly went black as the battery in his night vision suddenly died. Guess he wasn't as good at making long-lasting batteries as he originally thought. A flare would do for now. He wondered if Goblin Slayer would need a flare as well. He needed to see what was down there. He reached into his backpack and pulled out one of the few flare sticks he had created. After undoing the cap of the flare and briskly rubbing it against the coarse surface located on the cap, he extended his hand and let it fall.

 **SCREEEEEEEECH**

Mute nearly flinched as the red glow from the flare revealed an abundant amount of creatures that looked nearly identical to the one they had just defeated. The creature kept on releasing ear-piercing screams as they tried to break free from noticeably clean and new chains they were securely fastened to. Mute noticed one particular spot where a creature was missing.

" **Ye gods! What's happening over there, lad?!"** Mute signaled for them to be quiet. He pointed to the cliff and let the others witness what he was seeing. One by one they all peeked over the cliff and watched as the fiercely chained creatures stared back at the adventurers.

Priestess had gone entirely pale while the others got a sense to immediately run away. There was no way they could take on an army of these things. They had trouble just taking down one of them together. Mute and Goblin Slayer looked at one another. They both got the same idea.

…..

" **Be careful with these. Do not drop them."** Goblin Slayer warned an annoyed High Elf Archer who carried Mute's backpack along with everything else on it, save for his shotgun and sniper of course.

" **Just place the explosives and come back."** He said. She turned to him and with an annoyed look on her face replied: **"I get it! You don't have to tell me a third time!"** Mute, with the detonator in hand, awaited for High Elf Archer to place them in all of the positions Goblin Slayer had pointed out. Mute didn't know why, but the thought of blowing up this place along with High Elf Archer suddenly crossed his mind. He'd never do it. But still… it was there still wiggling around in his brain. After a couple of **"Hup!"** 's from High Elf Archer she placed the final charge right in the middle of the top of the cave. After she had jogged back to the group, they all took cover behind trees. Everyone silently waited in anticipation for Mute to detonate the charges. Mute, instead pulled out some strange brand of alcohol from his bag and took two huge gulps from the beverage. As they were about to say something, Mute pressed the button in his left hand, not bothering to look at the explosion behind him. Everyone else shielded themselves from the blast that sent chunks of rocks and pebbles flying in every direction. Birds perched on trees quickly flew away as soon as the blast registered within them. Mute took another sip from his bottle.

" **My gods…"** Dwarf Shaman's eyes widened at what lay before him. The once gigantic cave had magically turned into nothing but rubble. There was no doubt in his mind that the monsters that dwelled inside were buried underneath all of that. Never again to see the light from the sun. **"Effective as always."** Goblin Slayer commented as he stepped out from behind the tree that had a couple of rocks and pebbles lodged into its trunk. **"We're done here."**

Mute put his away his beverage and stepped out from behind the tree he had hidden behind. **"What were these abominations doing here?"** Lizard Priest asked no one in particular. **"I don't know, scaly. But whoever it was, they had planned to use them for some malicious purpose."**

" **We should report this to the guild."** Priestess said as she placed her hands behind her. She felt awkward not having a staff with her as if her hands needed to be holding on to something. Mute reached into his backpack and fished around for something. After locating the bag of coins in his backpack he tossed them to Priestess who barely reacted in time. **"He wants you to buy a staff with that."** Goblin Slayer clarified for her in case she didn't realize. **"Thank you."** She bowed in Mute's direction who nodded in response.

...

 **"He is not here?"**

 **"No, um, sir. I'm sorry. He recently left on a quest. I'm not sure as to when he'll come back."**

 **"I see... I wished to meet him in person."** The man speaking to Guild Girl turned around and faced the six bodyguards who all kept vigilant eyes on everyone around the guild, looking for any would-be assassins that might make an attempt on the king's life. **"I suppose I will leave a representative then."** The king looked at a man wearing formal attire. He nodded and became rigid as the king and his men passed him, making their way towards their lavish horse-drawn carriage which had two guards standing right near the door. **"We're leaving."** And with those orders, the man whipped the two ropes that controlled both horses and began to make their way out.


	13. Alcoholic

Mute poured the emotion numbing drink into his mouth.

Beer. Not the other one. One hundred sixty-eight hours had yet to pass. Uncharacteristically, Mute swiped the drink Dwarf Shaman had yet to even sip from and emptied that too into his mouth and in one gulp, swallowed it all. **"What?"** Goblin Slayer looked at Mute in what would be his own way of looking shocked. Mute went for High Elf Archer's mug as well, but thanks to the sluggish effect from the alcohol managed to yank it away from a drunk Mute. **"Hands off!"** A portion of the contents splashed on the floor and the table because of how fast it was pulled. **"Hey! where are you going?"**

Slowly getting up from his chair, the silent man went over to the closest tavern, which was located from the guild, and made a show himself as he bumped into chairs too far out from a table or into other adventurers. **"I think you've had enough."** The… Male? Female? Mute couldn't even discern the gender of the person in front of him, maybe he should stop. Is what he would've thought, but instead he pulled out three gold coins and almost slammed them on the counter. He was bribing the bartender to hand him another, but even with the additional coin, they pushed the coin his way and shook their head in refusal. Mute would've clicked his tongue if he could. Instead, he stopped using a stool for support and turned around, making his way back to the table he previously got up from.

" **I like alcohol as much as the next person, but don't ya think you've had enough, lad?"** Dwarf Shaman glanced back and forth between the once filled mug and the drunk making his way back to them. **"Why don't you want to come?"** Priestess shifted uncomfortably in her seat watching Mute. She'd seen ordinary good people have a really bad day and turn into a former shell of themselves. What could have possibly happened to Mute?

 _ **Stop looking at me like that.**_

Mute thought to himself as Priestess' concerned look never left her face. Since the noiseless alcoholic's brain only worked at a fourth of its full power he didn't concern himself with voicing his thoughts to the journal strapped to his belt which housed other various utilities.

" **I...I think you need some help."** Priestess said with a conviction not usually seen in her. The drunkard looked up from his slouched position on his seat. Mute began paying attention. In earnest, the only people in this room who he truly respected was his own party. The rest of the group noticed his sudden focus on her and his grip loosen on his mug. **"I agree."** Goblin Slayer then paused tossing a though back and forth in his cerebrum. **"You heard what** _ **she**_ **said earlier."** High Elf Archer pointed to Guild Girl who pretended not to be overhearing the conversation. **"Keep acting like that and you'll be demoted back down."** Lizard Priest's tail stiffened followed by a flick of his tongue. **"Trust is an important aspect of a guild. Without it, I'm sure consequences will develop."**

" **You're not coming with us."** Mute shifted in his seat at his words, what effect it had on him stayed unknown. The party's leader leaned forward and looked straight into the bloodshot eyes. **"Goblin Slayer, sir that's-"**

" **Entirely necessary."** Priestess didn't expect to be cut off like that her mouth still agape as if she was about to speak. The whole guild had suddenly gone silent at the raised voice of the goblin slaughterer. **"Maybe a more… tempered reaction may be called for?"** Lizard Priest spoke up breaking the silence Goblin Slayer's serious voice had created. **"Um…"** The religious teenager meekly reached for something in her robe and handed a small rectangular piece of somehow hardened sheepskin paper.

" **It's for an alcohol rehabilitation center for those who might need it."** She handed it to Mute who's emotions still remained unpredictable thanks to his helm. He clumsily took hold of the card and stuffed it inside one of his pockets. **"Let's go."** Without consulting his group, Goblin Slayer stood up and made his way towards an expectant Guild Girl. Everyone else besides the excluded followed him. After exchanging some words with the receptionist who eyed Mute for a brief moment nodded and then smiled as the party departed towards the snowy mountains to the north. Something about a missing swordswoman who went goblin hunting and never returned.

She's most likely dead. Or, she's become a plaything of those green dwarfs.

Mute sat on the table alone his head down. Though he couldn't see it, he could feel the girl over the counter looking at him, her eyes weighing down heavily on him. He needed to get out of this place. Now. As swiftly as a drunk could possibly be, rising up from his table and nearly knocking over his mug, Mute left the guild, refusing to look at the eyes of someone sympathizing with him. He didn't have a problem. He had it under control. Nobody controls him but himself. Needless to say, Mute didn't go anywhere near wherever this rehabilitation may be. Instead, he'd pass the rest of the day in the closest tavern. Mute didn't know the name of this place, nor did he care, he just wanted a drink. With coins already at hand, the clumsy, bloodshot-eyed silent man slammed a piece of paper on the countertop that hastily spelled one of the available drinks. Taking advantage of Mute's current state, the keep charged just slightly extra for the beverage he had ordered. Mute kept this up for the remainder of the day until it had hit midnight. Sitting on his stool, Mute's ears picked up the sound of a new person. The stranger took a seat right next to Mute and with a voice as deep as quicksand said: **"A shot for myself."** The new customer then turned to look at the man sitting to his right and added: **"And one for my new friend."** With three sheets to the wind, Mute twisted the stool he sat on and turned to face this new man. Every other person in that tavern's face had suddenly gone pale as they realized who this unco was. If one inspected this being a lot more carefully, they would notice that underneath the large and heavy hood there housed a floating skull missing two tooths in the upper and lower jaw. Inside of the eye sockets two large ruby gems stuck themselves to the skull. Lastly a small transparent smoky astral like green aura absorbed the entire cranium. Mute assumed it was able to hold up its clothing due to whatever magic it was using. Looking around the bar, Mute noticed that not a single person in this rundown saloon was an adventurer considering there disposition towards this monster that no doubt had ulterior motives. Unperturbed, the bartender served the two the drinks the Demilich had ordered. At the same time, they both emptied the contents into their mouths, Mute however was the only one who swallowed. The glasses then were automatically refilled by the man over the counter. The silence in the air was torn apart by a sudden loud inhale coming from the skull. The patrons in the room let out screams as their bodies stretched, reality warping around them. Seconds later, they all collapsed and fell from the chairs they sat on. The bartender and Mute were the only ones left unharmed. **"That attack only works on people who have souls."** Demilich informed Mute, realizing Mute would've questioned as to why the keep was still kicking.

" **Where's your soul, Mute?"** The silent man reached for his shot glass and threw the contents into his mouth, giving no response to the monster sitting next to him. **"Are you a monster?"** Mute didn't move an inch but instead chose to keep staring at the ground with a bored look on his face, at least, that's what Demilich had interpreted it as. **"Heretofore is seeking others just like you to join the demon ranks. You lack a 'soul'. That makes you a monster."** Mute looked around himself and felt an unbridled rage starting up in his heart. The colorless eyes and shriveled up bodies around him fueled his anger even further. He found the closest napkin near him and pulled out his writing utensil. One word was neatly presented to this lich who curiously leaned in closer to look at the tiny words scribbled on this sheet.

 **DIE.**

From behind the paper, sixteen small pellets easily tore through the paper and made their way towards Demilich. Every single pellet struck the skull sending bits and pieces flying in every direction. The demonic bartender sitting behind the bar was formulating something in both hands, but before any kind of attack could be launched, he found a tri-dagger lodged into his throat. Mute pressed harder onto this demon's neck and tore open his entire throat. The dead monster let loose his attack by mistake. As he fell backward, a huge fireball tore through the ceiling of this establishment. Two critical hits. That's all it took. Mute looked above him and watched as the cinders created from the blast gently fell towards him.

Heretofore? He's the one raising the demon army. At least that's what High Elf Archer had said. He's the reason the three diverse adventurers had sought Goblin Slayer's help in the first place. Mute had never actually killed demons, well, until now, though these seemed weak, it didn't take much to take them down. But then again…

Mute cocked his shotgun with one hand and caught the shell that launched itself out of it.

He did have a huge advantage over them with this modern technology. So now what? He had a feeling stronger "messengers" would come his way to "convince" him to join, whether he wanted to or not. Guess he should head back home and pass the day away by drinking some more. He'd stop by a different tavern and buy a keg from them. He was strong enough to haul it on one of his shoulders.


End file.
